Aberdeen raises £120m for fourth Asian Property Multi-Manager Fund

The new vehicle, the fourth Asia Pacific multi-manager fund it has launched since 2006, will be run similarly by a team in Singapore under Kang Puay-Ju, head of property multi-manager at the global asset management firm.

The anchor investor is Keva, Finland’s largest pension provider, which administers pensions on behalf of public sector workers and government organisations.

Aberdeen has a longstanding relationship with Keva, which has invested in previously launched funds.

This latest fund will focus on building a portfolio of best-in-class unlisted funds, joint ventures, clubs and co-investments across Asia Pacific including Japan. The fund targets an IRR of at least 12 per cent over its anticipated 12-year life.

It is distinguished from another series of property multi-manager funds the team manages that invests more conservatively in core to core-plus strategies, both globally and regionally. The Asia Pacific focused fund in this series added US$30m in a second close in December bringing the total fund size to US$100m. Aberdeen’s property multi-manager unit has now raised around US$215m globally in the past three months.

A part of that total comes from the company’s secondaries platform, which started in 2013. Secondaries are appealing to a wide set of investors because pricing is often discounted and the ‘J-curve’ – the lag between initial investment and payback that afflicts traditional investments – avoided.

Aberdeen is investing in secondaries globally, especially in Europe which has seen significant growth as a new wave of regulation reduces the appeal of unlisted property funds to insurance companies and banks, and forces pension funds to consolidate thus leading to rationalisation of portfolios.

As one of the largest property multi-managers globally, Aberdeen is able to access and underwrite such deals from its four offices in Singapore, London, Stockholm, Philadelphia.

Puay-Ju Kang, head of property multi-manager at Aberdeen, said: “We think this is a favourable time to be investing in property as pricing remains attractive relative to bonds. There are also more ways that investors can invest in this asset class, with the deepening of the secondaries markets and the institutionalisation of sectors once perceived as “alternative”, such as student housing, senior housing and self storage. These developments have broadened the opportunity set which we are looking to capitalise on for our new products and mandates.”