Germany鈥檚 biggest pension fund has hired Real Estate Company to invest 鈧�750m in US residential markets.
USAA RealCo said the 鈧�80bn Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK) had launched an 鈥渆vergreen separate account鈥� to invest in multifamily assets.
Last year, on BVK鈥檚 plans to add award specialist real estate mandates in the Americas.
Norman Fackelmann, head of real estate investment management at BVK, said: 鈥淎s a business, we are committed to growing our exposure to the US market and more specifically in the multifamily segment.
鈥淲e believe the multifamily sector offers strong risk-adjusted returns over the long term, and USAA RealCo鈥檚 performance has proven to be exemplary in this segment.鈥�
He said USAA RealCo had consistently outperformed the NCREIF NPI Multifamily benchmark.
The mandate has been seeded with six recently-constructed, urban infill and transit-oriented properties, totalling 1,600 units and 36,000sqft of retail in five major markets.
USAA RealCo will in the future co-invest 10% in existing assets and 30% in ground-up developments.
The investment manager, part of insurance and financial servics group USAA said it will target 鈥渃ore, build-to-core and value-add acquisitions in premium, central neighborhoods within major markets across the US鈥�.
It said: 鈥淭he mandate鈥檚 goal is to create a portfolio of best-in-class multifamily assets that deliver strong cash-flow yield with significant appreciation potential, which also corresponds to BVK鈥檚 long-term perspective and objective鈥�.
Frankfurt-based Universal-Investment will administer the mandate on behalf of BVK.
