QuadReal Property Group (QuadReal) is a Canadian company headquartered in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

that invests operates and develops company real estate. It is wholly owned by

British Columbia Investment Management Corporation British Columbia Investment Management Corporation which uses the trade name BCI, is a Canadian company established by way of the 1999 ''Public Sector Pension Plans Act'' to provide investment services to British Columbia’s public sector pensi ...

(BCI) and acts as its real estate investment arm. Outside Canada and the United States, the firm has offices in London, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Background

British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) is a

crown corporation Crown corporation () is the term used in Canada for organizations that are structured like private companies, but are directly and wholly owned by the government. Crown corporations have a long-standing presence in the country, and have a sign ...

established to provide investment services to

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

’s public sector. On June 1, 2016, it announced it will create QuadReal, a subsidiary that will manage CA$18 billion in real estate assets. This was done to align with its peers who also had their own real estate investment arms:

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (, CDPQ; ) is an institutional investor that manages several public and parapublic pension plans and insurance programs in the Canadian province of Quebec. It was established in 1965 by an act of the ...

had Ivanhoé Cambridge,

OMERS The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) is a Canadian public pension fund, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. OMERS is a defined benefit, jointly sponsored, multi-employer public pension plan created in 1962 by Ontario provinci ...

had

Oxford Properties Oxford Properties is a Canadian multinational corporation, with operations in real estate investment, development and property management. Its portfolio includes office, retail, industrial, multi-residential, life sciences and hotel assets. Establ ...

and

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board () is an independent organization responsible for administering defined benefit pension plan, defined-benefit pensions for school teachers of the provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of ...

had

Cadillac Fairview The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited, branded as Cadillac Fairview, is a Canadian company that invests in, owns, and manages commercial real estate, mainly in Canada and the United States. As of March 2017, the company had 73 properties, enco ...

. However these were all acquired and then integrated while QuadReal was to be an entirely new entity set up. Prior to QuadReal, BCI's real estate assets were managed by Bentall Kennedy, GWL Realty Advisors and Realstar which were subsequently transferred to QuadReal in February 2017. In addition, staff who managed the assets at Bentall Kennedy were moved to QuadReal. In May 2017, QuadReal named its first CEO, Dennis Lopez who was previously the global chief investment officer of

Axa Investment Managers Axa Investment Managers (Axa IM) is a global investment management firm. It operates as the investment arm for Axa, a global insurance and reinsurance company. History In 1994, Axa created an investment management subsidiary under the name, ...

. Around this time, QuadReal had 87% of investments in Canada and aimed to have more investments internationally to diversify its holdings. In March 2018, QuadReal announced it would be opening an office in London and would be expanding its operations to Europe. At the time most of its investments were in the Americas but the plan was to reduce it to 50% while 25% would be allocated to Europe and Asia each to be more balanced. In 2021, it was reported that QuadReal in less than five years since its launch, had become the third-largest real estate owner in Canada, surpassing

CPP Investment Board The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB; ), operating as CPP Investments (), is a Canadian Crown corporation established by way of the 1997 ''Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act'' to oversee and invest the funds contributed to and h ...

and Cadillac Fairview. It took advantage during the COVID-19 pandemic when it bought listed hotel platforms at steep discounts, stepped in as an equity partner for groups during a difficult fundraising environment and invested in alternative properties such as data centers and life science facilities. As a result, the company had significant growth where by the end of 2020, its holdings had grown 41% year-on year. Originally with CA$18 billion, its assets at this time increased to CA$58.4 billion. This was despite market and property levels dropping to their lowest volume in seven years. In addition its performance surpassed the benchmark on both a one- and five-year basis. In May 2023, due to rising tensions between Canada and China, BCI paused all further investments in China. QuadReal which in the last few years had significantly invested in China was affected by the change.

References

External links

* {{authority control 2016 establishments in Canada Canadian companies established in 2016 Companies based in Vancouver Real estate companies of Canada