B.C. pension fund creates giant, multi-billion-dollar real estate company

The Canadian commercial real estate industry will soon face a new multi-billion-dollar competitor in the marketplace.

British Columbia Investment Management Corp. said Wednesday it will take its $18 billion in real estate assets under management and create a new private company, to be called QuadReal Property Group, which will look to expand in Canada and globally.

BCIMC, which provides investment management services to the province’s public sector and invests the funds not currently required to pay pensions and other benefits, will set QuadReal up with an independent board of directors to oversea its operation.

As part of the move to internalize management of its real estate operations, the new company has retained Remco Daal as its co-president to head up its Canadian operations. Daal was the president of Bentall Kennedy, one of the companies that was providing external management to the B.C. pension fund.

The majority of bcIMC’s Canadian real estate assets are currently managed externally by Bentall, GWL Realty Advisors and Realstar. Management of real estate assets from those companies will begin to transfer to QuadReal in 2017. Roughly 500 employees are coming over from Bentall Kennedy to join the new entity.