Morgan Stanley Real Estate announced today that it has successfully completed fundraising for MSREF VI International with a total of $8.0 billion of equity commitments from institutional and retail investors in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Morgan Stanley invested just over 20 percent of the total equity raised.
The Fund employs an enhanced return strategy and has buying power in excess of $30.0 billion. Investments include non-U.S. real estate assets, portfolios and companies primarily in developed markets, including Japan, Western Europe, and Australia, and emerging markets, including China, India, Russia, Turkey and Latin America.
“The record size of this fund, both for Morgan Stanley Real Estate and among real estate investment managers, is indicative of strong capital flows into real estate as new investors seek exposure to the asset class and existing investors increase their allocations,” said John Carrafiell, Managing Director and Global Co-Head of Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing. “Real estate is increasingly becoming an important component of an asset allocation strategy because it offers portfolio diversification and the ability to invest in ‘real’ assets, which provide uncorrelated investment returns compared to other asset classes.”
“We believe that attractive opportunities to invest in real estate around the globe will continue as demand for all asset types outpaces supply,” said Sonny Kalsi, Managing Director and Global Co-Head of Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing. “Global employment growth, an aging population in the west, a growing population in the east, and accelerating urbanization in many emerging markets will drive the need for all types of quality real estate.”
To date, the MSREF series of funds have acquired real estate assets globally totaling $83.5 billion with assets under management of $31.6 billion. With the closing of MSREF V U.S. in September 2006 at $1.75 billion, MSREF raised a total of $9.75 billion of equity to invest globally during the past year.
Morgan Stanley Real Estate is comprised of three major global businesses: Investing, Banking and Lending. Since 1991, Morgan Stanley Real Estate has acquired $121.5 billion of real estate assets worldwide and as of March 31 managed $55.6 billion in real estate assets on behalf of its clients. A complete range of market-leading investment banking services for real estate clients include advice on strategy, mergers, acquisitions and restructurings, as well as underwriting public and private debt and equity financings. As a global leader in real estate lending, Morgan Stanley has offered approximately $156.0 billion of CMBS through the capital markets since 1997, including $35.5 billion in 2006.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management, wealth management and credit services. The Firm's employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals from more than 600 offices in 32 countries. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.
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