Ralph Rosenberg

It’s been 12 years since Ralph Rosenberg took the reins at KKR Real Estate. Since then, the market has seen numerous ups and downs, but the platform has only gone from strength to strength. 

As of March 31, KKR’s AUM had grown to more than $65 billion—a $19 billion year-over-year increase—and it now owns or lends on $207 billion of real estate assets. It manages more than 15 real estate strategies, including core, core plus and opportunistic investments in equity, securities and loans across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific and the recent market dislocation means there are plenty of spots for KKR to play in. 

“As the market has dislocated over the past year we’ve seen an increasing number of opportunities to selectively acquire core and core plus risk at prices that reflect value add and opportunistic returns,” Ralph Rosenberg said. “On the credit side of our business, as a well-capitalized private lender, our multiple pools of long-term capital have positioned us to originate highly attractive loans on great real estate at historically high rates coupled with conservative proceeds levels and strong covenants. Across our entire platform we have benefitted from focusing on demographic, consumption and manufacturing/distribution themes.”

KKR’s big-picture theme for 2022 was the expansion and deepening of its real estate business globally, with noteworthy events including the acquisition of Mitsubishi Corp.—UBS Realty, the second largest Japanese REIT Manager by market share; the launch of its European credit business; the building out of its investment capabilities in the Nordics; and launching an investment services business for real estate credit in the U.S. in Dallas. It’s also busy growing its debt advisory business within KKR Capital Markets, having advised on 130 deals representing $23 billion in proceeds this past year. Phew!

“We’ve built our business to thrive in complex market environments where relationships and partnerships matter as much as capital availability. We are fortunate to be well positioned on these metrics,” Rosenberg said. 

ESG remains an important focus for the firm as it powers ahead. It achieved a Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark assessment for its KKR Americas core plus strategy, and began rolling out an enhanced approach for ESG integration for real estate credit. Of its 165 real estate team, 43 percent are women.