Cordea Savills, the international property investment manager, has formed a full service investment platform in Japan.
It will build upon the well-established existing business of Merchant Capital, an independent real estate-focused Japanese merchant bank. This will complement Cordea Savills’ existing Asian operations which has offices in Hong Kong and Singapore.
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Merchant Capital was founded in 2005 by key members of Merrill Lynch’s Japanese real estate principal investment business, and it invests on behalf of a range of institutional and private investors. The two managing partners, Tom Silecchia and Tadaaki Kurozumi, will continue to work with their existing clients as well as new investors and form part of the Cordea Savills management team in Asia.
Cordea Savills in Japan will service clients looking to invest in Japan, an increasingly favoured destination for capital. Merchant Capital’s core business provides access to distressed debt, bank work-out mandates and a broad range of other real estate investment opportunities while Cordea Savills has fund structuring expertise and access to international institutional investors. In addition, Cordea Savills Japan will work closely with Tokyo-based Savills Asset Advisory, an asset management subsidiary of Savills with 13 employees and current assets under management of JPY148 billion. Savills Asset Advisory holds a discretionary investment management license and is fully regulated by the Japanese Financial Services Agency.
Products offered by Cordea Savills will range from pooled funds through to single asset mandates. The initial focus will be both on the commercial and residential sectors where exposure can be gained to a range of risk/return profiles.
With the largest concentration of institutional-grade real estate in the Asia Pacific region and the second largest globally after the US, Japan operates a liquid and relatively transparent property market. As a result of the radical policy changes introduced by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to stimulate economic growth, Japan has seen a continued recovery in its property market and this has signalled renewed interest from international investors, particularly as a source of income returns. Japan is considered a key element of global strategies and, along with the US and UK, is a country where single country strategies are accepted. The weakening Japanese Yen is also likely to make inward investment more attractive.
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By GlobalDataJustin O’Connor, CEO at Cordea Savills, commented: "This marks a transformation in our proposition in Asia by providing clients with exposure to Japan through a best-in-class investment and asset management platform. As capital inflows from overseas investors continue to increase, we look forward to offering a high quality and diverse range of investment opportunities. Both Tom and Tadaaki have a wealth of experience and will drive the business forward."
Tom Silecchia, managing partner of Merchant Capital, commented: "We look forward to becoming part of a group with the reputation and quality of Cordea Savills, which is developing a strong presence in Asia. It is an excellent strategic fit as together we have the potential to source and manage high quality investment opportunities in Japan that will be particularly attractive to international investors. An expanded investment offering will benefit both our existing clients and new investors."
Tadaaki Kurozumi, managing partner of Merchant Capital, added: "We also see potential to introduce existing and future Cordea Savills’ products investing in Europe and elsewhere, to Japanese institutions with an interest in diversifying into global markets."
