New Acquisitions Build Manulife’s Canadian Property Fund

By Paul Brent

Considering Manulife Financial Corp.owns more than 38 million square feet of real estate worth valued at about $11 billion, it is easy to overlook component parts such as its relatively new Manulife Canadian Property Portfolio.

Established in 2011 as a co-mingled fund to hold diversified real estate for Canadian institutional investors it has grown to an impressive $600 million in assets in the four main property types.

A broad and balanced investment approach is at the heart of the fund’s offering, explained the executive in charge of the fund, Timothy Blair, Manulife Real Estate’s managing director and senior portfolio manager.

“We are really looking to grow that Canadian fund by investing in Canadian assets, we are looking to be geographically diversified across Canada and we invest in the four major asset classes: office, industrial, retail and multi-family – and we are also looking at some development deals.

“. . . a good and growing portfolio,” he added. “We really focus on what I would call quality assets.”

What it owns

Notable holdings of the Manulife fund include the 22-storey 736 – 6th Avenue SW in Calgary “a great little office building,” …read more

Source:: RENX