Hines has launched Hines Asia Property Partners (HAPP), the firm’s new fund for the Asia-Pacific region with $400 million of capital from Cadillac Fairview, the real estate investment arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, the largest single profession pension plan in Canada.
Hines’ fund will have an initial investment capacity of approximately $900 million and look to invest across all sectors in Asia-Pacific region.
The fund will be a multi-sector, open-ended, diversified vehicle targeting top-tier markets in Japan, Australia, South Korea, Singapore and China (including Hong Kong).
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HAPP intends to invest in logistics, office, living, retail and select niche sectors to build a diversified portfolio targeting core plus returns and balancing yield and growth.
“We are very pleased to partner with such a prominent like-minded institutional investor like Cadillac Fairview to launch our flagship fund in Asia. We look forward to creating value for our current and future investors, project partners, and communities through the fund’s investments,” said David Steinbach, Hines Global Chief Investment Officer.
“Our long-established teams in the region have already started to identify and secure opportunities that are emerging post-COVID across Asia Pacific,” he added.
Cadillac Fairview, the real estate investment arm of the C$221 billion Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, is the lead founding investor.
“We are delighted to invest in Hines Asia Property Partners as a lead founding investor, and we believe that Asia will accelerate growth and diversification benefits to our portfolio with potential long-term outperformance,” said Duncan Osborne, Executive Vice President of Investments at Cadillac Fairview. “Our relationship with Hines dates back two decades and they have a proven track record as a trusted manager and operator with demonstrated history of successfully executing investments through their local market teams.”
HAPP will leverage Hines’ boots-on-the-ground experience in the region. The firm first entered in China over 25 years ago. Since 1996, Hines has expanded throughout 13 cities across Australia, China (including Hong Kong), India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore, with $5.3 billion of assets under management.
HAPP will have oversight from a team of seasoned investment management professionals, comprised of David Steinbach, Global Chief Investment Officer and Co-Head of Investment Management; Chris Hughes, CEO of the Capital Markets Group and Co-Head of Investment Management; Chiang Ling Ng, Chief Investment Officer of Asia; Ray Lawler, CEO of Hines Asia Pacific Region and Simon Shen, HAPP Fund Manager, totaling over 100 years of career experience.
Chiang Ling Ng, who recently joined Hines from M&G, and now serves as the firm’s Chief Investment Officer, Asia, added, “This is such an exciting time to be beginning my tenure at Hines. The expertise of the team, in addition to the strength and confidence we instill in our investment partners, while leveraging our proprietary research, will enable us to quickly deploy capital and execute key off-market transactions across multiple locations and sectors. I look forward to working closely with the team to continue to elevate Hines’ platform and serve Hines investors in this region.”