LaSalle Investment Management has assembled a fourteen-person strong team of professionals to capitalize on Mexico's growing and improving real estate market and using the increased availability of debt to enhance returns. The leading real estate investment manager is also raising a fund with equity targeted around the $500 million range, with investment focus on high-quality development with broad diversification across property types and markets.
The team, led by Eduardo Guemez out of Mexico City, will provide portfolio management expertise and a joint-venture pipeline with leading Mexican developers and operators. Since 2004, LaSalle has already invested over USD$400 million in Mexico on behalf of institutional separate account clients, with strong returns to date. LaSalle also benefits from the experience of its parent company, Jones Lang LaSalle, which has been operating in the region since 1992.
Eduardo Guemez, LaSalle's CEO, Mexico, said, "Our aim in the region and for this fund is to benefit from attractive investment returns on a risk-adjusted basis in comparison to established markets in North America and Europe. We think it makes a lot of sense to view Mexico as an inclusive part of our North American strategy with potential for higher returns. Taking part in the modernization of the Mexican real estate market and strategically off-setting risk is our long-term view and where we want to play."
More on Mexico
- A decade after the enactment of NAFTA, Mexico has developed a stable economy with the highest income per capita in Latin America.
- Over the years Mexico has become one of the largest economy in Latin America and the twelfth-largest economy in the world. Its GDP grew 4.7% in 2006, and is expected to grow between 3.0%-3.5% between 2007 and 2010.
- A rapidly growing middle class is creating substantial demand for retail, industrial, residential and office spaces.
- In 2006, Mexico was the most transparent real estate market in Latin America, according to the Jones Lang LaSalle Transparency Index.
- The Mexican economy created more than 1.0 million jobs in 2006.
- The government has exhibited more than 10 years of stable fiscal policies.
- Mexican real estate values are appreciating in response to rising institutional investment interest.
Source: LaSalle
