Deloitte: Sovereign Wealth Remains a Force

NEW YORK CITY-While there haven’t been many high-profile transactions lately, the lack of activity shouldn’t be seen as a sign that sovereign wealth funds have lost interest in commercial real estate, according to a Deloitte LLP report released Monday. SWFs figured in some of the largest investment sales of 2008, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority’s $800-million stake in the Chrysler Building and the Kuwait Investment Authority’s $3.95-billion joint venture with Boston Properties to buy the General Motors Building and three other office towers, and could be back for more.

“Notwithstanding current US and global macro economic conditions, which will likely impact SWF and other global investors’ short-term investment strategies, SWFs may present a significant source of new capital flows into US commercial real estate and the overall US economy,” Dorothy Alpert, Deloitte’s US real estate leader, says in a release. “Real estate firms that strive to understand and build relationships with SWFs may benefit from this access to capital and expanded opportunities for growth.” From the viewpoint of SWFs, US commercial real estate is “perceived to be a quality investment in a mature and sophisticated market,” according to the Deloitte report.

With regard to SWFs’ recent absence from the domestic acquisition scene, Guy Langford, who heads up Deloitte’s real estate M&A practice, tells GlobeSt.com, “SWFs are somewhat inwardly focused right now in the short term, which supports the evidence of lack of external SWF investment in US commercial real estate for the past six months. In addition, given the continuing distress in US commercial real estate with declining values, many investors, including SWFs, are adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach.”