Money

CIC in talks with Harvard on property funds

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-08-04 16:30

China Investment Corp (CIC), the country's sovereign wealth fund, is in talks with Harvard University's endowment to buy the US institution's stakes in property funds worth about $500 million, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The latest move by the $300 billion sovereign wealth fund reflects its efforts to tap properties in the distressed US commercial real estate sector as it seeks to diversify its overseas portfolio.

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Terms were still being negotiated and any transactions could be finalized over the next few months, the newspaper quoted sources as saying.

Harvard's property portfolio made a loss of over 50 percent in the year that ended June 2009, the paper said, quoting a performance report by Harvard Management, which oversees the endowment.

The $26 billion Harvard endowment has been trying to pare down its $5.4 billion real-estate portfolio as it attempts to reduce its exposure to illiquid assets, the paper said.

Harvard Management Company and CIC were not immediately available for comment.