The investment giant raised $1.1 billion of equity from institutional investors for its new partnership which has a mandate to invest in opportunistic real estate across the Asia Pacific region including in Australia. The partnership’s principal investment strategy had two key focuses: backing specialist operators that were creating or investing in assets that satisfy demand from global megatrends and looking for opportunities for higher returns that have been created from “market dislocation” due to the pandemic over the past 18 months. The new partnership fund – part of a real estate platform that has $US17 billion ($22 billion) of assets under management including investments in over 500 office, logistics, retail and residential assets – is targeting 20 per cent-plus total returns.
Macquarie remains “quite comfortable” about its exposure to the office market as a core investment strategy, it is less likely to invest in the sector through its new partnership fund given its mandate to target higher returns. It would most likely be through investing in a business that is undertaking “new age, highly sustainable” developments in the city fringe and suburban markets. Did not see retail property forming a big part of its new fund’s investment strategy unless it found the right partner with a good strategy to reposition and convert less loved retail.