1) Q1 2015 Fundraising Update
Pension fund commitments to managed real estate vehicles
2) Commitment activity significantly up through Q1
Domestic public pensions have committed $12 billion to managed real
estate vehicles thus far in 2015, a 46 percent increase over 2014
Commitments to real estate managers by U.S.-based
public pensions through Q1 2015 are up significantly over
the same period in 2014, according to data tracked by FPL
Consulting. Per FPL’s proprietary database, pensions
committed $12.0 billion to managed real estate vehicles
through Q1, compared to $8.2 billion over the same
period last year and $5.9 billion in 2013. This surge was
partially driven by several large opportunity fund closings
in recent months, including those by Blackstone,
Starwood, and Lone Star.
Investment Strategy and Vehicle Structure
High-yield (i.e. value-add and opportunistic) strategies
continue to be in favor with investors in 2015, making up
slightly more than three quarters of commitment dollars.
This emphasis on higher yielding strategies marks the
continuation of a trend that began in 2013 with investors
demonstrating a greater willingness to take on higher
levels of risk for the potential of higher returns.
As with investment strategy, the landscape of
commitments by vehicle type shifted slightly in the first
quarter. While closed-end commingled funds were
popular in 2014, they have been ever more so thus far in
2015, representing 54 percent of commitments YTD in
2015, versus 47 percent in 2014.
The vehicle focus in favor so far this year has been Direct
Equity, representing 88 percent of commitments in Q1
2015. Debt focused vehicles made up 6 percent of all
commitments this quarter, and 6 percent of commitments
YTD went to “other” funds (e.g. REIT securities, FoF, etc.).
All three of these trends for Q1 have been impacted by the
large opportunistic, closed-end, equity funds such as
those mentioned above.
© 2015, FPL Consulting
Commitments to real estate managers
(thru Q1)
$B
12.0
5.9
2013
8.2
2014
2015
Commitments by investment strategy
%
37
33
28
29
34
38
2013
2014
Core
49
27
Value-add
24
2015 YTD
Opportunistic
Commitments by vehicle type
%
25
35
42
18
11
10
56
47
54
2013
2014
2015 YTD
Closed-end
commingled
Open-end
commingled
Separate
account
3) Property Type
Vehicles dedicated to a single property type have attracted
28 percent of commitment dollars so far in 2015, a figure
well below that of 2014 but slightly up compared to 2013.
While retail and industrial properties were among the most
prevalent of these focused vehicles in 2014, commitments
through Q1 2015 have favored multifamily and “other” (i.e.
niche) strategies. It will be interesting to see whether the
lower percentage of property focused vehicles represents a
return to the diversified fund strategies that dominated
2013, or simply an anomaly resulting from large fund
closings in Q1.
Breakdown of commitments by property type
(among property-specific vehicles)
%
2015
YTD
2014
47
25
13 6 3
16
20
Multifamily
Industrial
Office
32
28
12
Other
Retail
Geography
Breakdown of commitments by geography
%
8
12
5
6
8
14
41
23
56
2013
72
2014
North America
Europe
Global
54
2015 YTD
Latin America
The majority of commitment capital (54%) continues to flow
to vehicles focused on North America. That said, global
strategies continue to have traction with institutional
investors, accounting for significantly more commitment
volume in Q1 2015 than in 2014 and 2013. Part of this uptick
can also be attributed to the previously mentioned closings of
large, global funds this year. Asian focused strategies have
attracted about 5 percent of commitments YTD. European
vehicles meanwhile, have attracted 0.2 percent of
commitments in Q1, representing a decrease from their
popularity in 2013 and 2014.
Asia
Average Commitment Size
The average commitment size thus far in 2015 is $96
million, which is slightly up from the 2014 average of $95
million. As one would expect, the average commitment to
separate accounts is considerably higher at $211 million.
It’s important to note that this metric includes both newly
formed separate accounts (which tend to be larger
commitments), as well as follow-on commitments to
existing separate account vehicles (which are often
smaller).
© 2015, FPL Consulting
Average commitment size
(overall and by vehicle type)
Overall
$mm
Closed-end funds
Open-end funds
Separate accounts
96
79
211
74
4) Manager Concentration
The commercial real estate industry’s prominent players have
recently attracted a disproportionate share of commitment
volume, underscoring the bifurcation between ‘haves’ and
‘have nots’. While it is too early to tell whether this story will
continue to ring true for 2015, an early read suggests so. The
top 5 firms (by aggregate fundraising dollars over the period)
represent 48 percent of volume YTD, while the top 20
represent 81 percent. It is important to keep in mind that
these concentration metrics tend to decline over the course of
the year. For reference, in Q1 of last year, the top 20 firms
accounted for 77 percent of commitment dollars.
Concentration of commitments
%
All others
All others
All others
All others
48
Firms 1120
18
Firms 6-10
13
For more information, please contact:
Timothy Kessler
Principal
tkessler@fplassociates.com
© 2015, FPL Consulting
Firms 1120
18
Firms 6-10
14
Top 5 firms
48
Top 5 firms
21
2014
Contact
19
2015 YTD
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About FPL Advisory Group
FPL Advisory Group (“FPL”) is a global professional services firm that specializes in providing executive search, compensation, and
management consulting solutions to a select group of related industries. Our committed senior partners bring a wealth of expertise
and category-specific knowledge to leaders across the real estate, hospitality and leisure, and healthcare sectors.
FPL is comprised of three primary operating companies that work together to serve a common client base. Ferguson Partners
Ltd. provides executive and director recruitment, succession planning, and board assessment services, FPL Associates provides
compensation consulting services, and FPL Consulting provides a range of organizational, financial and strategic consulting services.
FPL is headquartered in Chicago, with offices in New York, London, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Singapore, Tokyo, and Toronto.
From Chicago, Hong Kong, London, New York, San Francisco, Singapore, Tokyo, and Toronto, we serve clients across the globe.
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