MetLife Investment Management (MIM) closed the MetLife Single Family Rental Fund (SFR Fund) with $390 million in capital commitments from a global group of institutional investors.
This marks the first closed-end vehicle launched by MIM’s real estate equity team. James Ray, who was formerly responsible for regional acquisitions and development in the southwest United States, manages the SFR Fund’s portfolio.
The SFR Fund strategy focuses on acquiring and developing purpose-built, single-family rentals in the 75 largest U.S. markets.
“We have a high level of conviction in the demand for single family rentals, and we see this fund as a natural extension of our experience investing in other housing segments, where our perspective as a leading institutional investment manager has served clients well,” said Robert Merck, global head of real estate and agricultural finance at MIM. “We see a substantial and lasting opportunity to provide renters with well-located units tailored for their use.”
MIM’s real estate platform includes both commercial mortgage loan strategies and real estate equity strategies, representing a combined $111.2 billion in gross commercial real estate assets under management as of March 31. Recent investors in the platform include the Florida State Board of Administration, the New York State Common Retirement Fund and the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System.
