Once a Niche Play, Real Estate Debt Becoming Institutional Investor ‘Superfood’
In the first half of 2017, TH Real Estate, an affiliate of asset manager Nuveen, reported that it had closed and committed 43 transactions in its commercial debt portfolio totaling $3.8 billion. The real estate debt investments span the industrial, office, retail and multifamily/student housing sectors in the U.S. and U.K.
“The sector used to be more of a niche play but now an allocation to CRE debt is more frequently becoming part of institutional investors’ fundamental line-up of income strategies,” notes Jack Gay, TH Real Estate’s global head of debt.
“For real estate investors, private debt is an increasingly inviting strategy given the current environment which is marked by low returns from fixed-income investments, high prices for equity investments that may appear risky and political uncertainty in many regions,” he added.