鈥� real estate multi-manager is among investors in Real Estate鈥檚 debut property debt fund.
TIAA Henderson said it has raised 拢138m (鈧�192m) for its UK Enhanced Debt Fund, also attracting investment from US parent TIAA-CREF.
It is the first debt fund launched by TIAA Henderson since the fund management between Henderson Global Investors and TIAA-CREF was created in 2013.
TIAA Henderson has already begun investing in UK real estate debt on behalf of the fund and TIAA-CREF, the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association 鈥� College Retirement Equities Fund. Earlier this year, it completed financing deals worth more than 拢200m.
The new fund has been launched amid an increasingly competitive market for real estate debt funds in the UK. Eudes Berthelot, fund manager at Aviva Investors Global Indirect Real Estate, said the fund鈥檚 鈥減ositioning strongly differentiates it from alternative debt offerings and strategies currently available in the market鈥�.
TIAA Henderson鈥檚 real estate debt platform is being led by Christian Janssen, formerly of Renshaw Bay and Barclays Capital. Henderson Global Investors sought to launch a real estate debt fund prior to the joint venture with TIAA-CREF, hiring John Feeney 鈥� 鈥� in 2012.
The new fund will invest in whole loans and mezzanine debt up to 75% loan-to-value over a six-year period.
TIAA Henderson said It will focus on prime and 鈥渟trong鈥� secondary assets, and 鈥渨ell-positioned regional assets in the core-plus and value-added sectors of the UK market鈥�.
The fund is able to syndicate senior portions of whole loans.
Christoph Wagner, director of debt strategies at TIAA Henderson, said: 鈥淪tructural changes in the lending market have created the opportunity for alternative lenders to originate commercial real estate debt investments at attractive risk-adjusted returns.
鈥淢eanwhile, a weak supply of efficient debt finance is continuing for certain parts of the UK market. As a result, we believe that commercial real estate debt can offer investors stable, income-focused returns with significant insulation from volatility in the wider property and investment markets.鈥�
