The PERE 50 countdown
A closer look at which managers made the cut (and how they got there)
The PERE 50 is back, and it’s a more expensive club to join than ever before.
The minimum amount of capital raising required to gain entry this year was $2.57 billion, up about 6 percent on last year and a whopping 80 percent on five years ago, when the ranking covered only 30 rather than 50 firms. At the top end of this year’s ranking is the $20 billion-plus club, with now three firms having amassed such a massive equity haul. Similarly, the number of managers that have raised more than $10 billion in the last five years has grown from four to seven.
To find out who those managers are, along with the full ranking and our methodology, click here.
Now, we continue our countdown with the managers filling out ranks 29-20…
29- ESR
$3.93 billion
Founded: 2016
HQ: Hong Kong
Making a standout debut in this year’s ranking is the Asia-focused logistics real estate operator and developer e-Shang Redwood (ESR). The firm makes it to the top 30 on account of successfully raising capital for logistics investments in the region, particularly Japan. As of March, the firm is understood to have raised over $400 million for its second Japan-focused logistics vehicle. In addition, ESR also raised over $370 million in co-investments for Japan logistics and an additional $250 million in co-investments for an undisclosed strategy.
28- Colony Northstar
$3.96 billion
HQ: Los Angeles
Founded: 1991
Colony NorthStar has fallen several places from last year. However, PERE expects the firm to climb up the charts in 2019 since it is nearing a final close of its debut digital infrastructure fund, expected to be more than its $3 billion target. In addition, the firm is understood to have raised around $700 million from co-investments through the five-year period ending February this year. According to an earnings call in May 2017, it also collected $335 million for an industrial-focused fund.
27- Bridge Investment Group
$3.97 billion
HQ: Salt Lake City
Founded: 2011
The firm has been climbing up the PERE 50 over the past two years. After jumping 11 spots to reach 37th place last year, the Salt Lake City-based firm has jumped again. Late last year, it is understood to have blasted through its initial $750 million fundraising target for the Bridge Senior Housing & Medical Properties Fund II and achieved a final close of over $1 billion. The fund is significantly bigger than its predecessor in the senior housing fund series, which closed on $735 million in 2015.
26- KKR
$4.05 billion
HQ: New York
Founded: 1976
After landing a spot in the PERE 50 last year, the New York-based private equity giant, whose real estate arm is led by Ralph Rosenberg, has vaulted up the ranking. The performance is the result of KKR’s successful closing of its latest Americas-focused opportunistic vehicle in January. KKR Real Estate Partners Americas II, launched in the fourth quarter of 2015 with a $1.5 billion target, was closed on $2 billion. The fund is bigger in size than the $1.5 billion predecessor fund that closed in late 2013.
25- Walton Street Capital
$4.07 billion
HQ: Chicago
Founded: 1994
The Chicago-based firm, founded by Neil Bluhm, remains at number 25; a steady performance largely attributable to the $1.2 billion closing of its eighth multi-sector vehicle. As per SEC filings, the firm closed the Walton Street Real Estate Fund VIII in May last year. It had initially launched the vehicle, seeking opportunistic investments across North America, in 2015 with a $1.5 billion target. The Maine Public Employees Retirement System and the Oakland County Pension Trust Funds are some of the LPs in the vehicle.
24- Harrison Street Real Estate Capital
$4.26 billion
HQ: Chicago
Founded: 2005
manager’s home base
The Chicago-based firm has moved up 11 positions this year, with the $1.1 billion haul for its sixth opportunistic fund, including co-investment capital, marking a key highlight. In late June, the firm closed Harrison Street Real Estate Partners VI at its hard-cap of $950 million in addition to $205 million in co-investment capital. According to PERE reports, the firm also secured a $368 million niche property account mandate from Germany’s largest public pension fund, Bayerische Versorgungskammer.
23- Gaw Capital Partners
$4.32 billion
HQ: Hong Kong
Founded: 2005
The Hong Kong-based private equity real estate firm closed its fifth pan-Asia opportunistic real estate fund on $1.3 billion with $500 million in co-investment sidecars. That followed a successful capital-raise for Gaw’s US-focused vehicle. For the Gaw Capital US Value Add Fund II, also known as US Fund III, the firm is understood to have raised more than $300 million against a $350 million target and a $450 million hard-cap. No placement agent has been used for the US fund series. The firm also raised $151 million for its hospitality-focused fund that closed in September 2016.
22- Westbrook
$4.40 billion
HQ: New York
Founded: 1995
As the PERE 50 counts fundraising in the last five years, Westbrook fell significantly from last year after a fund that closed in 2012 no longer factored into its total. Its latest vehicle, the $2.85 billion Westbrook Real Estate Fund X, raised a whopping $850 million more than the firm’s original target. Among Fund X’s 103 investors are New York State Common Retirement Fund, which earmarked $350 million, and the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, which committed $200 million. The firm’s fundraising total includes co-investment capital for both Funds X and IX.
21- LaSalle Investment Management
$4.55 billion
HQ: Chicago
Founded: 1980
One key capital raise for LaSalle Investment Management in the past year has been the closing of its latest Asia opportunistic vehicle, led by Asia-Pacific chief executive Mark Gabbay. Just before press time, the firm announced it had raised over $1 billion for the LaSalle Asia Opportunity Fund V, making it more than twice the size of the $485 million LAO IV. LAO V was launched in August 2016 with a $750 million target but a year later, PERE reported on the firm’s decision to up the fundraising target to $1 billion.
20- Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing
$4.63 billion
HQ: New York
Founded: 1991
The New York-based financial services firm returned to the PERE 50 in 2017, and maintained its top 30 spot this year. This is on the back of a $2.73 billion capital raised for the North Haven Real Estate Fund IX Global, known in the market as G9, in January, solidifying MSREI’s re-emergence as a formidable global property investor. The firm, led by global head Olivier de Poulpiquet, outraised the capital hauled by the predecessor fund G8 by $1 billion. PERE also understands that every G8 institutional investor returned to commit capital to G9. 
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