Sydney’s Assembly in fund-raising push for property fund
Sydney’s Assembly Funds Management, a property investor led by former Westfield chief operating officer Michael Gutman, has reopened its second property fund as it seeks to stock up on dry powder for the new year.
Potential investors have been told the Assembly Diversified Property Fund 2, or ADPF2, will run a rapid-fire fund-raising round from mid-November until Christmas, after being closed to new applications for a year.
This would mark ADPF2’s third close, and comes after it has raised $165 million of its $350 million target since launching two years ago. One of the fund’s investments is a stake in the $400 million Woodgrove shopping mall in Melbourne’s Melton West, which Assembly bought alongside global giant PGIM Real Estate earlier this year.
It hunts for value-add opportunities in retail, office and living (both land lease and retirement living) sectors, and has deployed $110 million of the $165 million raised so far. In addition to partnering with heavy-hitters like PGIM, it has also raised syndicates and co-investment funds.
Assembly is hitting the fund-raising trail at a time when several players have said valuations in retail and office property have bottomed out after being bogged down by years of high interest rates.
“With listed equities at elevated levels and increased volatility, capital allocators and advisers may see ADPF2 as an attractive opportunity to realise some gains and reallocate towards real assets that offer greater stability and long-term value, targeting a net 13 to 15 per cent return with an average 8 to 10 per cent distribution post the investment period,” Gutman said in a statement.
