Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank and UK-based asset manager Aberdeen Standard Investments have teamed up to invest in residential real estate across Japan and other Asia Pacific markets.
The joint venture will focus on multi-family, senior housing, student housing and corporate housing assets in mature markets across the region, focusing on Japan, the two companies said.
Details on the size of the JV were not disclosed. The bank’s subsidiary, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Real Estate Investment Management, and ASI will co-manage and co-invest in the JV.
Kang Puay Ju (image: Aberdeen Standard Investments)
The JV will target value-add investments, acquiring newly constructed properties on a forward commitment basis, as well as older residential properties that can be renovated, repositioned or converted.
“The joint venture is an important step in expanding our global investment offering, as we continue to address investors’ need for alpha and diversified return,” said David Paine, global co-head of real estate at Aberdeen Standard Investments.
“Over the next decade cities in the Asian Pacific region are set to experience very strong growth, fuelled by both domestic and foreign immigration to major metropolises, which bode well for housing demand over the medium-term,” noted Kang Puay Ju, head of real estate Asia Pacific and global head of real estate multi-manager at Aberdeen Standard Investments.
ASI said the JV would take advantage of a continued trend towards urbanisation in Japan, especially the largest cities like Tokyo and Osaka, where there were significant rental and yield gaps between new and older buildings. The JV will look for similar residential trends in the Asia Pacific as well.
The partnership follows Aberdeen Standard Investments’ acquisition of real estate investment manager Orion Partners in February this year.
The firm said the deal was part of its plan to expand further into Asia Pacific, having invested in the region with Orion for more than a decade.
ASI is Europe’s second largest real estate investment manager with US$50.9bn of real estate assets across Europe and Asia Pacific.
It is the asset management business of Scotland-headquartered investment giant Standard Life Aberdeen.