Real estate’s risks and opportunities ahead
As the demise of the office component in real estate allocations continues investors are favouring data centres, warehousing and low cost accommodation.
Nest, the largest workplace pension in the UK, says that private credit managers who prioritise institutional clients will be more favourably viewed. The £61 billion ($82 billion) fund has awarded a £450 million ($605 million) US direct lending mandate to Crescent Capital this month, citing the manager's institutional-client-first approach as a key attraction.
As the demise of the office component in real estate allocations continues investors are favouring data centres, warehousing and low cost accommodation.
America’s university endowments are reporting blistering returns thanks to soaring equity markets and their large venture allocations. Washington University’s managed endowment pool is an outstanding performer, returning a whopping net 65 per cent for the fiscal year 2020-21 and nearly doubling its size to $15.3 billion. CIO Scott Wilson explains how they did it.
The $1.23 trillion Norwegian sovereign wealth fund celebrates 25 years of investing in fixed income. Sarah Rundell looks at some of the highs and lows of its fixed income portfolio which makes up around 30 per cent of fund.
UK pension scheme NEST’s first foray into private equity offers hope for investors looking beyond standard operating models in the asset class. The £20 billion defined contribution fund, currently sifting through 60-odd procurement responses to allocate more than £1 billion at the beginning of next year, is quietly confident it will be able to hammer out a deal with GPs to make the expensive asset class known for 2:20 fees affordable.
Absolute return strategies are an important skeleton key to building a resilient portfolio according to Ben Samild, deputy chief investment officer, portfolio strategy at the Future Fund.
Maryland State Retirement and Pension System is the latest fund to record an historical performance for the 2021 financial year, returning a best ever 26.7 per cent. Again public and private equities were the star performers with an exceptional 51.85 per cent return in private equity and 44.54 per cent in public equities But in recognition there might be a bill to pay for those higher returns in the future the fund has lowered its actuarial rate of return.
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