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QuadReal Property Group

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QuadReal Property Group
Company typePrivate
IndustryReal estate
FoundedJune 1, 2016; 8 years ago (2016-06-01)
HeadquartersPark Place, Vancouver, Canada
Key people
Thomas Garbutt (Chairman)
Dennis Lopez (CEO)
AUMCA$73.8 billion (2023)
Number of employees
1,200 (2023)
ParentBritish Columbia Investment Management Corporation
Websitewww.quadreal.com

QuadReal Property Group (QuadReal) is a Canadian company headquartered in Vancouver that invests operates and develops company real estate. It is wholly owned by British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) and acts as its real estate investment arm.

Outside Canada and the United States, the firm has offices in London, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Background

British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) is a crown corporation established to provide investment services to British Columbia’s public sector. On June 1, 2016, it announced it will create QuadReal, a subsidiary that will manage CA$18 billion in real estate assets. This was done to align with its peers who also had their own real estate investment arms: Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec had Ivanhoé Cambridge, OMERS had Oxford Properties and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan had Cadillac Fairview. However these were all acquired and then integrated while QuadReal was to be an entirely new entity set up. Prior to QuadReal, BCI's real estate assets were managed by Bentall Kennedy, GWL Realty Advisors and Realstar which were subsequently transferred to QuadReal in February 2017. In additional staff who managed the assets at Bentall Kennedy were moved to QuadReal.[1][2][3][4]

In May 2017, QuadReal named its first CEO, Dennis Lopez who was previously the global chief investment officer of Axa Investment Managers.[5] Around this time, QuadReal had 87% of investments in Canada and aimed to have more investments internationally to diversify its holdings.[4][6]

In March 2018, QuadReal announced it would be opening an office in London and would be expanding its operations to Europe. At the time most of its investments were in the Americas but the plan was to reduce it to 50% while 25% would be allocated to Europe and Asia each to be more balanced.[7]

In 2021, it was reported that QuadReal in less than five years since its launch, had become the third-largest real estate owner in Canada, surpassing CPP Investment Board and Cadillac Fairview. It took advantage during the COVID-19 pandemic where it bought it listed hotel platforms at steep discounts, stepped in as an equity partner for groups during a difficult fundraising environment and invested in alternative properties such as data centers and life science facilities. As a result, the company had significant growth where by the end of 2020, its holdings had grown 41% year-on year. Originally with CA$18 billion, its assets at this time increased to CA$58.4 billion. This was despite market and property levels dropping to their lowest volume in seven years. In addition its performance surpassed the benchmark on both a one- and five-year basis.[8]

In May 2023, due to rising tensions between Canada and China, BCI paused all further investments in China. QuadReal which in the last few years had significantly invested in China was affected by the change.[9]

References

  1. ^ "BCIMC takes real estate into its own hands". The Globe and Mail. June 2, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  2. ^ "British Columbia Investment Management moves real estate assets to new subsidiary". Pensions & Investments. June 1, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  3. ^ Morris, Meghan (June 17, 2016). "A separate piece for bcIMC". PERE. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Schwartz-DriverJuly/August 2017, Stephanie. "Canadian investors: QuadReal, British Columbia's new subsidiary". Real Assets. Retrieved October 4, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ "QuadReal Property Group hires first CEO". Pensions & Investments. May 12, 2017. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  6. ^ "QuadReal Property has eye on future prize". Pensions & Investments. June 21, 2017. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  7. ^ Lee, Evelyn (March 5, 2018). "QuadReal to open London office". PERE.
  8. ^ Campbell, Kyle (March 26, 2021). "Meet the Canadian investor that doubled its AUM during covid". PERE.
  9. ^ Laforga, Beatrice (May 14, 2023). "BCI, Ontario Teachers Pause China Investments". Mingtiandi. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
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