You wouldn’t know that it’s a tough market for fundraising based on Vistria Group’s recent track record.
On the heels of closing a $3 billion buyout fund for healthcare, financial services and education companies, the Chicago-based private equity firm has notched $2.5 billion for its first workforce and affordable housing fund.
Vistria launched the real estate strategy two years ago to preserve, improve and build affordable and workforce housing. “The capital need is in the trillions, not billions,” Vistria’s Margaret Anadu told The New York Times.
The firm has amassed a portfolio of 7,000 housing units in six states and Washington, DC; about 80% are considered affordable housing. Vistria converted 2,000 of the units it acquired from market-rate to affordable, including 700 units in California.
Vistria, with $16 billion in assets under management, counts public pension funds, investment banks, insurance companies, asset managers, foundations and family offices in the US and Europe among the housing fund’s LPs.
“Institutional investors are recognizing what we’ve long known – high-quality affordable and workforce housing isn’t just essential, it’s one of the most durable and scalable asset classes in real estate,” said Anadu.
Like infrastructure, investors see real estate and other alternative assets as an inflation hedge. Vistria’s fifth flagship buyout fund secured investments from the New York State Common Retirement Fund and the California State Teachers Retirement System, among other institutional investors.
Vistria is a new addition to the ImpactAssets50 list of impact fund managers this year.
