NEW YORK, May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Alpha Equity Management, LLC ("Alpha
Equity"), an investment management firm specializing in long/short equity
strategies, and The Praedium Group LLC ("Praedium"), a leading real estate
company focusing on acquiring distressed real estate assets throughout North
America, today announced their joint venture. Together, the companies will
manage and develop investment products focused on publicly-traded real estate
securities.
The joint venture draws on Alpha Equity's securities investment experience
and established performance record and Praedium's experience as a seasoned
real estate investor and fiduciary. Alpha Equity's investment process has been
refined by their investment team for more than eight years and incorporates
real estate fundamentals and stock characteristics to capitalize on
inefficiencies in a variety of market conditions.
"Alpha Equity has an exceptional team of experienced professionals with a
distinctive investment process," noted Russell Appel, president of Praedium.
"While Praedium's core strategy continues to be identifying opportunistic,
value-added real estate deals, we are very excited to team with Alpha Equity
and look forward to working closely with them on various real estate
securities products."
Kevin Means, Alpha Equity's founder, managing partner, and real estate
portfolio manager, noted, "My partners and I are very excited to join forces
with Praedium. We believe that their private market expertise complements our
public market experience, and that their well-established reputation in the
real estate community complements our growing presence in the hedge fund
community."
About Alpha Equity Management
Alpha Equity Management, an experienced long/short asset manager and a
pioneer in 130/30 strategies, uses a fundamentally-based,
quantitatively-applied investment methodology to manage assets in three public
securities categories: U.S., international and real estate. Alpha Equity's
investment team consists of four of the senior portfolio managers originally
at ING/Aeltus (formerly Aetna's asset management subsidiary), where they were
responsible for managing approximately $22 billion in equity portfolios. The
team, now at Alpha, first began working together in 1994, building and
refining multifactor models to exploit market inefficiencies through the
application of economic theory and statistical analysis.
In 2007, RidgeWorth Capital Management, Inc., the $74 billion asset
management subsidiary of SunTrust Banks, Inc., purchased a minority equity
interest in Alpha Equity, which now sub-advises three RidgeWorth 130/30 Funds.
Alpha Equity Management is a registered investment advisor with the SEC.
About The Praedium Group
The Praedium Group is a real estate investor focusing on under-performing
and under-valued assets throughout North America, with over $7 billion in
total investments to date in more than 275 transactions comprised of 45
million square feet of commercial space and 55,100 multifamily units. Praedium
was formed in 1991 with a leading international investment bank as its sole
investor. Building on the experience and exposure gained through this original
investment program, Praedium has been a sponsor of commingled real estate
private equity funds since 1994. The funds sponsored by Praedium have
attracted investors that include public and corporate pension funds, financial
institutions, insurance companies, endowments and foundations.
Cadim, a Montreal-based real estate investor and portfolio manager, is a
major shareholder of The Praedium Group. Cadim is a division of the Caisse de
depot et placement du Quebec and a member of the Real Estate group of the
Caisse, which is one of the world's 10 largest real estate managers among
pension fund managers.
SOURCE Alpha Equity Management, LLC
Charles Krusen or Alan Glatt of Alpha Equity Management, +1-646-708-9396,
alphaequitymarketing@alphaequityllc.com; or Great Ink Communications for The
Praedium Group, +1-212-741-2977, R. Donovan, Roxanne@greatink.com, J.
Magdieli, Jordana@greatink.com
