이 기사는 2021년 10월 06일 07시57분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

South Korea’s Government Employees Pension Service (GEPS) is on track for a record return on alternative investments this year, as its investments in overseas real estate are exited successfully.

Vestas Investment Management has recently signed a deal to sell Safeco Plaza, a prime office building in Seattle, according to industry sources on Friday.

“The buyer is a global real estate investment trust,” a source close to the deal said. “The transaction is proceeding smoothly.”

The Seoul-based investment firm acquired Safeco Plaza in July 2016 for 422 billion won ($355 million). GEPS was among three institutional investors that put money into Vestas’s fund dedicated to the deal. The building has since generated an average annual rental return of more than 7%.

“The building will be sold at a cap rate of 4.83%. The exit from the five-year investment is expected to give GEPS an internal rate of return of approximately 8.12%,” said the source.

The sale of the Seattle office building follows the pension fund’s exits from other real estate assets in Australia and Europe earlier this year, helping to boost its return on alternative investments.

GEPS’ alternative assets portfolio returned 7.46% in 2020, down from 8.52% a year earlier. But, in the first eight months of 2021, the pension fund earned 11.08% on its alternative investments, or a net return of 10.8%, the highest in its history.

The pension fund has invested a large amount of money in both domestic and overseas real estate assets. It is said that exits from some of GEPS' domestic investments in office buildings are being delayed as general partners ask the investor to extend the life of their funds in anticipation of a continuous increase in property prices.

GEPS reportedly intends to step up efforts to diversify its real estate investment beyond office buildings and explore investment opportunities in various types of properties such as industrial logistics, residential properties and communication facilities. (Reporting by Gyoung-tae Kim)