Private Equity Real Estate 50: Which are Registered with the SEC?

Private Equity Real Estate just released its ranking of the top 50 real estate private equity fund managers. As I have done in the past, I parsed the list to see which managers are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as investment advisers. (Disclosure: my company is on the list.)

PERE expanded the list this year from 30 to 50.  On the list, 41 of the top 50 are registered with the SEC as investment advisers. Of those not registered, 5 are overseas and likely are outside the scope of SEC registration requirements.

There are good arguments to be made on both sides of the registration debate for real estate funds. The core requirement under the Investment Advisers Act is that the manager is giving investment advice about securities. Most of these real estate fund managers are truly focused on real estate and not securities. However, the discussion between what is and is not a security may be fun for the first week of your securities law class in law school. It’s not a fun discussion when trying to comply with regulatory requirements.

The PERE 50 measures capital raised for direct real estate investment through commingled vehicles, together with co-investment capital, over the past five years.

Sources:

• The Wall Street Shuffle from PERE
• PERE 30 2012 Edition: Private Equity Real Estate Top 30 – 2012 Edition
• PERE 30 2011 Edition: Which Real Estate Fund Managers are Registered with the SEC?
• Is a fund manager is an investment adviser? – prior post on Compliance Building
• Is real estate is a security? – prior post on Compliance Building