Staff Writer

The asset manager raised $500m more than its original target.

Real estate secondary transactions rose to record levels for the fourth year in a row, with a 20 percent increase in volume for the second straight year, according to new data from Landmark Partners.

The Connecticut-based fund of funds manager is back in the market with a new fund seeking $400 million to invest in opportunistic and value-added real estate vehicles as well as secondaries.

The $49.5 billion pension system will make sizable investments in new value-added funds from Blackstone and Paramount, as well as its own co-investment and secondary program.

Andrea Echberg, former head of infrastructure in the principal finance team at Societe Generale, has joined the London team of private equity and infrastructure investment firm Pantheon as partner and head of European infrastructure investments.

Advantage Partners will sell a coffee shop franchise to MBK Partners for about $480 million, highlighting a growing trend of GP-to-GP secondaries in Japan.

The $70.8 billion pension system is considering a massive sale of real estate holdings in a continuing effort to cull under-performing or redundant investments from its portfolio.

The niche secondaries investor - which has helped firms including SVG with refinancing needs - had a 75% re-up rate for a fund that's more than double the size of its predecessor.

The former CIO of Morgan Stanley AIP’s real estate fund of funds business has formed Candlewood Investments to specialise in secondaries and co-investments.

The appointment of Daniel Green as chief investment officer allows chief executive Marleen Groen to focus purely on her role as head of the business as it continues to expand.