Kotak Alts raises ADIA-anchored $1 bn real estate fund

The fund has also secured a commitment from National Pension Service of Republic of Korea (NPS Korea), marking the pension fund's first investment in Indian alternative assets, Kotak said on Wednesday. ADIA's investment represents the sixth consecutive commitment from an ADIA subsidiary to its real estate platform. "ADIA’s sixth consecutive commitment to our platform is a testament to the trust earned over a decade of consistent delivery. NPS Korea’s maiden Indian alternatives commitment to our platform for an India dedicated strategy in these volatile times is an equally powerful validation," said Srini Sriniwasan, managing director, Kotak Alts. “Together, these partnerships define the quality of the Kotak Alts franchise and the confidence that global institutions place in our ability to generate superior risk-adjusted returns.” India attracts new pools of foreign capital India's large fund managers are seeing increasing interest from new global investors from countries including Japan and South Korea. Last week, HDFC Capital Advisors Ltd said that the Development Bank of Japan Inc. (DBJ) has made its first real estate investment in India, committing capital to HDFC Capital Development of Real Estate Affordable and Mid-Income Fund (H-DREAM Fund), which aims to raise $1 billion, including a green-shoe option. “The demand for capital to support real estate in India is robust, while Kotak has delivered consistent returns and displayed underwriting discipline across market cycles," Mohamed Al Qubaisi, executive director of the real estate department at ADIA said in a statement. "This anchor commitment is testament to the strong relationship we have built over more than a decade." Vikas Chimakurthy, chief executive, Kotak Alts (Real Estate Fund), said, “The 14th fund is built on the learnings of 13 prior vintages — across multiple real estate cycles, regulatory transitions, and liquidity environments. That depth of institutional memory is what gives global investors like ADIA and NPS Korea the confidence to commit.” Kotak's new fundraise comes at a time when India's real estate sector is performing well both on the residential, commercial and industrial segments. There is a continuous need for private equity capital to be filled up as the demand for capital remains high. Shobhit Agarwal, chief executive at Anarock Capital said the real estate fund-raising environment centres around big managers such as Kotak and HDFC. “They are raising foreign institutional capital from both existing limited partners as well as bringing new LPs on board. For mid-sized and smaller managers, it's mostly domestic capital. There are 20 domestic AIFs (alternative investment funds) that are each raising between ₹200-500 crore,” he said. Madhurima Nandy Madhurima is Senior Editor at Mint and tracks and writes on real estate, urban issues and infrastructure. Besides news stories, she also writes longform stories. She has over two decades of experience in journalism, and has tracked India's real estate sector closely. Real estate in India is complex and fascinating, and she is one of the few journalists who has tracked the sector over the years and mapped critical events—from the Lehman impact in 2008, to the NBFC-led liquidity crisis, to the boom cycle after the 2020 pandemic. She is a Bengaluru-based business journalist but is always looking forward to travel wherever a story takes her. It could be Ayodhya or Jewar to witness the rise of new property markets, or Goa and Hyderabad to experience the changing real estate landscape. Real estate can be a tricky subject, so her aim is always to dig beneath the surface and tell a story as accurately as possible for the readers.She has worked in newsrooms across Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata. She has a Masters degree in English Literature and a postgraduate diploma in journalism from Symbiosis, Pune.