JPMorgan to manage mezz fund facilitating Korean investment into US

JPMorgan Asset Management – Global Real Assets announced today that it is serving as investment manager for Samsung SRA Asset Management’s first US office mezzanine debt fund.

Samsung SRA, the real estate asset management subsidiary of Samsung Life Insurance, surpassed its targeted capital raise of $200 million and closed the fund at $270 million.

The firm’s first commingled mezzanine debt fund provides Korean institutional investors access to mezzanine debt on stable core office assets in six US central business districts: New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles.

With the new arrangement the fund expects to deploy the full capital raised in less than a year by acquiring fixed-rate mezzanine notes of up to $150 million, with a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio of up to 65 percent. Its first investment was a $108.5mm subordinate debt position on a Class A office tower in Chicago.

“The fund’s oversubscription points to the attractiveness of Samsung SRA’s real estate investment track record, as well as its well-timed strategy in a yield-starved marketplace,” said Candace Chao, head of Mezzanine Acquisitions for JPMorgan Asset Management – Global Real Assets, in a statement. “Mezzanine debt can help provide investors the yield and diversification they seek, as well as tax-efficient exposure to the U.S. real estate market for non-U.S. investors.”

Established in 2012, Samsung SRA invests in real estate equity and debt in the US, Europe and Korea on behalf of both Korean and international investors, with a net AUM of over $2 billion, according to a statement from JPMorgan announcing the new agreement.

JPMorgan Asset Management – Global Real Assets has more than $95 billion in assets under management and more than 400 professionals in 20 offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific, as of June 30, 2016.