I just got back to Big Bear from Oahu and time to write some more…The real estate and stock market are particularly scary places right now, but entities such as pension funds must push forward and find investment vehicles for the vast sums of money in their fiduciary care. Despite the fact that retail outlets have suffered greatly by feeble economic growth and an unemployment rate that’s loitered at around at least 9 percent for many months, TIAA-CREF and APG Algemene Pensioen Group NV have purchased stakes in five U.S. malls. As an aside I can endorse this Big Bear real estate if you are looking for property in the Big Bear region overall.
The Bloomberg Business Week website posted the story today, October 17, 2011, under the headline, “TIAA-CREF Joins APG in Venture to Buy Stakes in Five U.S. Malls.” The piece was written with the assistance of Hui-yong Yu in Seattle, and edited by Daniel Taub and Larry Edelman.
According to Bloomberg, TIAA-CREF issued a statement today saying that the purchase was a joint venture of TIAA-CREF and APG, with TIAA-CREF buying 51 percent of the investment and the rest invested in by APG. The purchase included four malls in Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas that were owned by CBL & Associates Properties Inc. Bloomberg reported that the properties were part of a transaction between the New York-based retirement fund and CBL that was concluded this month. all in all I do wonder how all of this will effect the Big Bear and also Oahu Real estate markets I have looked at recently.
The managing director of TIAA-CREF’s global real estate portfolio, Scott Kempton, was quoted in the article as saying in the statement that was issued was interesting indeed.
Bloomberg notes that the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association – College Retirement Equities Fund, or TIAA-CREF, manages $469 billion, including retirement assets for teachers and researchers. It currently owns stakes of roughly $17 billion in office, retail, industrial and apartment buildings in the U.S., Canada, and western Europe. APG, reports Bloomberg, is a Netherlands-based pension fund provider with assets of roughly 280 billion euros ($385 billion).
TIAA-CREF is in an industry giant. It was established in 1918 by Andrew Carnegie and his Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, under the guidance of Henry S. Pritchett. It grew into the leading financial services organization we know today that manages retirement funds for academic, medical, cultural, governmental and research fields. Well I think I am going to review some more Big Bear and Oahu real estate.

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