Stamford Capital Investments launches new fund

Stamford Capital Investments (SCIM), the investment management arm of Stamford Capital, has launched its fourth fund, seeking to raise $100 million from wholesale investors. It expects to raise $30 million by the end of January for the fund's first close.

The Core Partners Fund 4 (CPF4) is the largest in SCIM's series to date and aims to build on the success of its previous three funds, which average a return of 18%.

The new opportunistic fund is targeting 15% IRR net and is sourcing national investments including real estate-backed equity and joint ventures, preferred equity, and first and second mortgage debt.

Operating as a closed-end unit trust, CPF4 has a 2.5-year investment period in which investments and reinvestments can be made. This is followed by a two-year period for investments to be realised and capital paid to investors.

SCIM said it's maintaining its position higher up in the capital stack in equity as liquidity remains buoyant in private credit with heightened competitive tension in arranging debt finance.

"The private credit market is crowded. Fortunately, we are in a very unique position having access to Stamford Capital's market intelligence and strong deal flow. Our funds sit next to what is arguably the biggest net in the ocean. At any point in time, our brokerage team is engaged on over 350 capital transactions - this puts us at the coal face of the industry," SCIM executive director Michael Hynes said.

"Not only can we be discerning about who we partner with, but the size of our pipeline also powers our knowledge base. We are witnessing in real-time the issues developers are facing, which also helps us price capital. This intel is second to none."

Since its formation in 2012, SCIM has funded over 90 investments comprising about $630 million of principal, primarily invested in equity opportunities.

Hynes said SCIM anticipates investors will predominantly comprise many investors who have invested with them since the beginning, with investments as low as $100,000.

"There are pockets of opportunity in residential with the obvious supply and demand imbalance. We also see solid trading potential in the commercial, industrial, and retail sectors and like to acquire assets with historical leases that we can either recalibrate or trade," Hynes said.

Stamford Capital has a current pipeline of $6 billion in deals. In FY24, it wrote over $2.5 billion in loans and is forecast to exceed $3 billion in the FY25.