Thursday, 6 February 2014
This first fund is tailored to provide international high net worth investors with a diversified portfolio of professionally managed direct Australian core and core plus real estate assets and will be a complying investment under the Australian Government’s ‘Significant Investor Visa’ program. The program is intended to encourage foreign investment into Australia by high net worth individuals seeking investment migration, which requires an investment of no less than $5 million into one or more complying investment.
 
Having invested substantial time and resources to understand SIV investor demand and requirements, the fund has been tailored and offers solid investment returns through low volatility real estate investment. While focused on SIV requirements, the Fund is also open to other foreign and domestic wholesale investors looking for stable real estate investment returns.
 
The Fund is the first initiative of KordaMentha’s new real estate Investment Management platform, which will focus on creating value for investors through strategic real estate investments in Australia. The entrepreneurial move signals the growth of the progressive corporate advisory and investment group, best known for its corporate restructuring, real estate and forensic services.
 
“We take an evolutionary rather than revolutionary approach to growth, with services developed strategically in response to market demand. Given the increased domestic and international appetite for Australian real estate investment, due in part to the resilience of the Australian economy during the GFC, we feel that the time is now right to leverage the expert knowledge of our real estate team,” KordaMentha co-founder Mark Korda stated in announcing the launch.
 
KordaMentha’s Investment Management group will be headed by Berrick Wilson and supported by KordaMentha’s 30 plus real estate and investment specialists recruited over the past decade from leading global real estate and investment groups including Macquarie, Deutsche Bank, Mirvac, Lend Lease, Goodman, Centro and Arthur Andersen.
 
Mr Wilson believes the KordaMentha Investment Management team brings a unique skill set, in that it has a proven ability to add value and effectively identify and manage risk at any stage of the economic cycle. The team has a track record of delivering strong results in challenging situations, which is a positive indicator for investors. The KordaMentha Real Estate team has managed over $7 billion of real estate assets prior to and over the GFC.
 
”During the GFC we provided strategic asset management and real estate solutions to institutional secured creditors and hedge fund investors across all real estate asset classes, delivering superior results in challenging environments. Wholesale equity investors will now have direct access to our team of real estate investment and asset managers in offices across the country. We will apply the same strategic asset management skills and risk management to deliver value from the real estate assets of our funds for the benefit of our investors,” Mr Wilson said.
 
Mr Wilson added “The completion of our planning for the platform and initial fund coincides with the increasing momentum of the SIV program as investors and the State and Federal Governments refine their processes to manage the applications under the SIV program introduced in November 2012.”
 
Figures compiled by KordaMentha show that in mid-2013 there were 504 expressions of interest and 4 SIVs granted. However, by 31 December 2013 there were 981 expressions of interest with 88 SIVs granted, 73 of which were granted in the last quarter, demonstrating growing demand for the program and increasing efficiencies in the approval process. The current volume of EOIs represent nearly $5 billion of potential inbound investment capital through the program.
 
If you are interested in investing in the fund please click here to register.
 
For further details please contact Berrick Wilson.