POBA eyes life science buildings, student housing in Europe via SMA

South Korea's Public Officials Benefit Association (POBA) is targeting life science buildings, last-mile distribution centers and student housing facilities in Europe for its latest commitment of 270 billion won ($240 million) to a separately managed account (SMA).

It is POBA's second commitment, or a re-up, for the SMA formed in 2017 when it raised 340 billion won, according to investment banking sources on June 22. CBRE Global Investors and Seoul-based IGIS Asset Management Co. have been running the Europe-focused SMA in accordance with POBA guidelines.

The SMA had concentrated on small and medium-sized office buildings, having invested 140 billion won in the Brederode building in Brussels; 120 billion won in a building in southern Hamburg, Germany; and 80 billion won in one in Barcelona, Spain. 

This time, it will chase life science buildings, logistics centers and student housing complexes, as well as office buildings. Its ticket size will remain unchanged at between 50 billion and 100 billion won.

With 16 trillion won in assets under management, POBA has allocated about 3 trillion won to overseas real estate. To improve its deal sourcing, it has built strategic partnerships with global pension funds such as CalSTRS, while expanding SMA and co-investment platforms.

Write to Jung-hwan Hwang at [email protected]
Yeonhee Kim edited this article.