LaSalle Overachieves With $2.2B Raised for 6th Asia Opportunistic Fund

LaSalle Investment Management has raised more than $2.2 billion in equity for its LaSalle Asia Opportunity VI fund, handily exceeding the firm’s initial target of $1.5 billion.

The committed capital, which includes sidecars and co-investment programmes, has been secured from global institutional investors and will provide buying power for over $7 billion worth of assets, Chicago-based LaSalle said Thursday in a release.

LAO VI is the sixth in LaSalle’s closed-ended opportunistic fund series focused on Asia Pacific, which seeks to take advantage of mispriced assets with opportunities to add value through repositioning and redevelopment in the region’s key markets. The vehicle has invested 25 percent of committed capital so far in a diversified portfolio, according to LaSalle.

“The LaSalle Asia Opportunity Fund series offers investors access to a region with healthy market fundamentals and risk-return diversification opportunities afforded by varying market cycles, backed by the expertise and experience of LaSalle’s long-standing Asia Pacific platform which has been operating since 2000,” said APAC head Keith Fujii.

Boosted by US Pension Funds

LAO VI was enriched by a $300 million commitment in the second half of 2021 from the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, which manages a $318.1 billion investment portfolio on behalf of public school educators in America’s biggest state.

The support from CalSTERS came around the same time that the fund last November obtained a $200 million commitment from the Teachers’ Retirement System of Illinois, a substantial upsizing from the $6.9 million in TRS assets administered by LaSalle.

LAO VI’s investment strategy is led by Nick Okumura and Claire Tang in their roles as co-chief investment officers of LaSalle Asia Pacific, which they assumed in 2021 after former APAC CEO Mark Gabbay became LaSalle’s global CEO.

To date, the LaSalle Asia Opportunity Fund series has invested in more than $13 billion worth of assets. In the last 10 years, the average asset returns generated by the series have exceeded the targeted 18 percent net internal rate of return.

Gabbay said LaSalle is continuing to expand its value-add investment capabilities globally.

“We are focused on bolstering our platform in this strategy across all regions where we operate, to meet the continued investor demand for enhanced alpha throughout market cycles,” he said.

Active in APAC

LaSalle has remained one of the most active fund managers in the region in recent months, including striking a deal with TE Capital Partners to jointly develop an office building at 148 Cecil Street in Singapore’s central business district.

The proposed 20-storey building, accessible from the Telok Ayer, Raffles Place, Tanjong Pagar and Shenton Way MRT stations, is set to break ground in 2023 and is expected to meet advanced green building specifications sought after by global occupiers and investors.

In Hong Kong, a joint venture of LaSalle and residential operator Weave Living acquired an apartment tower in the city’s Mid-Levels for HK$275 million ($35 million), in a transaction reported last month.

Weave and LaSalle bought Wai Yan Court, a 25-unit tower at 68 Robinson Road in the upscale residential district popular with bankers and other financial services executives as the first deal inked under a $140 million equity JV.

As of the first quarter of 2022, LaSalle had $82 billion in assets under management across private equity, debt and public real estate investments.