Aware Super buys into Goodman’s $2b US logistics portfolio
Aware Super has bought into a $2 billion portfolio of logistics properties around Los Angeles that Goodman Group controls, as the industry super giant steps up its strategy to establish a global real estate footprint.
The super fund’s 49 per cent stake in the portfolio of three facilities gives it exposure to close to 258,000 square metres of industrial space occupied by big-name tenants including Amazon, Maersk, and Relativity Space. Goodman itself holds the remainder of the portfolio.
“Despite recent market uncertainty, we remain confident in the strong long-term fundamentals of the US industrial sector, with Los Angeles benefiting from limited supply and robust consumption patterns,” Aware’s head of property Alek Misev said.
“The investment also reflects our counter-cyclical approach of identifying opportunities when others are cautious.
“We’re targeting undersupplied infill locations where it is difficult to build new supply, and creating compelling fundamentals for our members’ $12 billion property portfolio.”
Around half the $200 billion fund’s property portfolio in Australian real estate, much of it into build-to-rent along with industrial real estate.
But, like Australia’s other major industry funds such as AustralianSuper and HESTA, the pressure to expand abroad is increasing as the super funds outgrow investment opportunities at home.
As its global strategy gains momentum, Aware Super expects that as much as 50 per cent or even 60 per cent of the property portfolio will be invested overseas within five years.
“Through deliberate sequencing we’re establishing our reputation and presence as a global asset owner, with an established European platform now operational in London, and capacity to scale our US presence and explore new markets including developed Asia,” Misev said.
“The investment also reinforces the industrial sector as a core component of Aware Super’s strategy, representing 30 per cent of the portfolio currently all in Australia alongside the fund’s 45 per cent living sector focus which serves as the stable bedrock for more opportunistic plays in office and retail.”
ASX-listed Goodman, led by Greg Goodman, is itself already a global player through its $86 billion portfolio of warehouses and data centres, with plenty more projects under way around the world.
The deal with Aware Super is typical of Goodman’s approach, partnering with major institutional investors on large commercial portfolios. Previously, Goodman had managed around $6 billion of North American properties through a partnership with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
Following the Canadian pension fund’s exit last year, Goodman restructured those holdings, setting up a partnership with Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, Norges Bank Investment Management, earlier this year for some assets and then striking the deal with Aware Super on the Los Angeles portfolio.
Greg Goodman said the US business generated over 37 per cent of the company’s earnings and was an increasingly important part of its global strategy.
“Alongside our long-standing investment partner, Aware Super, we see significant growth opportunities in our key US infill markets to support the development of essential infrastructure in a rapidly transforming digital economy.”
