The First Investor, an investment banking firm controlled by Qatari Diar, the real estate investment arm of the $60 billion Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), is to launch a Brazil and Russia fund.
The firm aims to raise $500 million for each fund which are intended to be launched by the end of the year. The funds already have allocated capital, according to a report by The Financial Times.
The Russian fund, to be co-managed with Russian bank Gazprombank, has $150 million in committed capital from the joint managers. Its primary focus will be Moscow. It will target a return of between 20 percent and 25 percent.
The Brazilian vehicle has soft commitments from TFI and Qatari Diar of $100 million. The FT reported that TFI was in advanced negotiations with an unspecified local real estate company. It will target a return of between 18 percent and 19 percent.
An investment in a real estate fund by the QIA, albeit via an entity it is linked to, comes after a period of inactivity in commingled fund investing.
PERE reported early last year that QIA, alongside other sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East, had scaled down its commitments to third party real estate investment managers following a poor run of returns following the global economic downturn.
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