Japan’s £1tn Government Pension Investment Fund has appointed CBRE Global Investment Partners as its first global real estate investment manager.
GPIF, the world’s largest pension fund, has recently started to push into alternative assets and CBRE GI’s appointment marks a major step towards Japan investing billions into real estate globally.
Last year, the fund was given approval to invest up to 5% of its total portfolio in alternative assets – infrastructure, private equity and real estate – which means it could put as much as £50bn into those sectors.
It has already started investing in real estate domestically, appointing Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation as investment manager in December 2017.
GPIF has so far invested in eight private REITs with a total value of £54m since January 2018. These represent a mix of assets: 40% in offices, 23% in logistics, 15% in retail, 19% in residential and 3% in other assets.
With GPIF moving into the global real estate market, eyes have turned to Japanese money more widely, given the volume of potential investment that could come from the country. Already, the £2tn conglomerate Japan Post is on the hunt to invest in real estate funds and has held preliminary talks with the managers of the £2.8bn Royal London UK Real Estate Fund.
Read more about Japanese investors preparing to go global here.
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