HSBC AM Completes SilkRoad Buyout, Peter Wittendorp to Head Asia Real Estate

HSBC Asset Management (HSBC AM) has completed its acquisition of SilkRoad Property Partners and appointed Peter Wittendorp, founder and former chief executive officer of the Singapore-based private equity firm, to lead its real estate business in Asia Pacific.

The transaction involves the asset manager taking over SilkRoad, its subsidiaries in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo, as well as the five general partner entities associated with its active funds, for an undisclosed amount.

With completion of the deal being announced on Thursday, HSBC AM’s former head of Asia real estate, Victoria Sharpe will focus overseeing the firm’s global property strategies, while Wittendorp took over her former role that same day. The leadership transition is part of SilkRoad’s integration into its new parent company with the company’s team members in Singapore Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo now part of the UK-based financial giant’s APAC real estate team.

HSBC AM sees the buyout fast-tracking growth for its regional real estate fund management business, with SilkRoad’s three value-add and core plus strategies, which manage $1.6 billion in gross asset value, now part of the larger firm’s business, with a fourth fund now in the works.

Bullish on APAC Real Estate

With the company now managing $662-billion globally, HSBC AM said the acquisition aligns with its goal of becoming a leading manager of direct property investments in Asia Pacific where it sees opportunities to provide its institutional clients and high-net-worth customers with access attractive investments.

“We are confident that with SilkRoad Property Partners Group’s strong performance track record, existing investor base and investment origination capability across key markets in the region, this acquisition will expedite the growth trajectory of our real estate business in the region and support our strategy of connecting global capital with Asian strategies,” HSBC AM said in a statement.

Completion of the SilkRoad acquisition comes less than three years after the third-party capital management division of HSBC established a dedicated Asia real estate team in 2021, with Sharpe joining the company from DWS to lead the initiative.

SilkRoad’s fourth fund is scheduled to be launched this year under the HSBC AM umbrella, with that vehicle focusing on value-add opportunities in a follow-through from its Asia Value Partners II which hit a $549 million final closing in late 2020.

The firm is also set to resume marketing a core plus, open-ended fund which SilkRoad established in 2021. Having achieved a $144 million first close in February 2022, that fund had an initial fund raising target of $400 million with SilkRoad having earlier set a goal of building a $1 billion portfolio, although the company had not yet given any update on the vehicle’s status at the time of publication.

Having transacted over $3.5 billion in real estate since its establishment in 2012, SilkRoad is also looking to expand its reach to Korea and Australia.

HSBC AM in 2021 consolidated its alternative businesses ranging from real assets, private markets to venture capital, into a single HSBC Alternatives division, with that entity’s run 110-member team managing or advising on $67 billion in assets as of 30 September 2023.