New firm to manage property fund

New firm to manage property fund

SINGAPORE (AFP): Property consultants Jones Lang Wootton (JLW) and the Prudential Insurance Co. of America said yesterday they had set up a joint company to manage a US$300 million fund for investment in Southeast Asia's booming property sector.

GRA (Singapore) Private Ltd. will manage the Bermuda- registered Southeast Asia Property Co. fund, which has so far raised US$200 million -- $150 million from five initial shareholders and $50 million from Singapore's Seaprime Investments Pte. Ltd.

In a joint statement, JLW and Prudential said GRA expected to raise another $100 million from other institutional investors.

The first direct real estate fund managed out of Singapore was in line with the government policy of encouraging fund managers to operate here, JLW and Prudential said.

The five initial shareholders to the fund are Prudential, Australian Mutual Provident Society (AMP), Nationale Nederlanden, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Australia's State Superannuation Investment and Management Corp.

Seaprime, an affiliate of the Government of Singapore Investment Corp., will be a strategic advisor to GRA in investing the fund in countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Hong Kong.

"We are already considering two joint venture projects in the region both of which suit our investment criteria," GRA executive director Ian Mackie said.