Robin Marriott

Canadian privately-owned real estate investor, RealStar Group, is entering into private equity real estate territory by seeking to raise a €300 million opportunity fund to acquire assets in both the UK and Continental Europe.

INREV is overhauling its definitions of core, value-added and opportunity funds after finding that measuring internal rates of return as well as leverage is not the best way to classify them.

The US arm of ING Real Estate’s investment business is to change its name from ING Clarion within the next six to 12 months, according to the outgoing chairman and chief executive of ING Real Estate Investment Management, David Blight.

The US bank is on the fundraising trail again as a previous $1bn vehicle nears completion, according to a report.

The purchase price is £53.8 million below the value of the properties at the end of March.

A second report this month has suggested there is continued appetite for Asia real estate but that tougher financing conditions prevail amid the credit crunch.

Olivier Lecler has been appointed CEO of Société Générale Asset Management’s alternative investment platform.

Orco Property Group, the listed company that concentrates on real estate investments in Central Europe and parts of Eastern Europe, is downgrading its growth forecast for the Endurance Fund after feeling the effects of the credit crunch.

The fund administration services firm is following real estate clients by opening an office in Tokyo, to be headed by Citco's former private equity and real estate executive in Luxembourg, Mark Beckett.

Global investment manager Franklin Templeton appoints William Yun in a new role as head of alternative strategies in a bid to take advantage of growth in areas such as real estate and private equity.