WNC has closed its Institutional Tax Credit Fund 44 with $135 million in commitments. The fund, which provided tax credits for low-income family and senior housing across the country, originally targeted $100 million in commitments, exceeding its initial fund raising goals. Additionally, the fund had a higher number of economically motivated investors, as a result of the fund's healthy returns. Tax Credit Fund 44 currently has 24 projects located in 18 states across the country.

“We originally had a target for the fund at $100 million, so we exceeded what we expected by $35 million,” Christine Cormier, SVP of investor relations at WNC, tells GlobeSt.com. “70% of the investors were economic investors, so they invest for yield, and 30% of the investors were banks. The banks have a mandate to do community reinvestment, which means they need to invest dollars into the areas where they have deposits. The mix is typically 50-50.”

Cormier says that the fund's success has helped to fuel the interest from the return-driven investors over banks in this cycle. “The return on this fund was great for the economic buyers in comparison to alternative investments,” says Cormier. “The return on this fund was between 5.45% and 5.55% after tax. Before tax, it is a 7% return. You aren't getting too many investment out there at 7%.”