PARE U.S., Ping An’s U.S. real estate investment arm, officially launched late last year with Rick Singer, former head of global real estate at Salomon Brothers, as its chief executive. The new venture will handle “all of the [real estate] investing for Ping An in the U.S. going forward,” Singer told. 

 

“The purpose is to consolidate the decision-making and process of deal flow to a local basis, so that Ping An can be much more active in investing in the U.S.,” Singer said of the PARE U.S., which aims to differentiate itself from other Chinese forays into the U.S. real estate market through the “benefit of local expertise.” 

 

The firm will not only focus on development projects but other forms of real estate investment, such as structured debt deals, asset portfolios and even entity-level acquisitions. It aims to invest “billions of dollars [in the U.S.] over the next two to four years,” Singer said. “To move the needle with Ping An, it takes that.” 

 

Ping An’s U.S. real estate presence thus far has been outside of the New York market, having partnered, alongside fellow Chinese insurance giant China Life, with a property developer for a stake in the developer’s $500 million Pier 4 waterfront development in Boston.

 

But Singer said the new venture is “absolutely” looking at New York as part of its strategy to invest in core urban areas – citing the city as “the biggest and most important” of those core markets. PARE U.S. is actively in “discussions with many of the large developers in New York,” he said.

 

“In building up this business, our focus is very much to do things off-market and quietly, based on relationships,” Singer noted. “To do it in a way where we’re very much like a U.S. investor, as opposed to a foreign investor.” 

 

Ping An, China’s second-largest insurer with more than $700 billion in total assets under management, has made waves with the ventures into global real estate markets in recent years, having acquired two London office properties in deals valued at nearly $900 million. 

 

 

With PARE U.S., however, the company looks set to follow Chinese insurance giants like Anbang Insurance Group and Fosun International in betting on U.S. real estate – and staking its claim in New York, as well. 

 

“It’s a very smart move for Ping An to venture with local U.S. expertise in Rick Singer,” Eastdil Secured senior managing director Doug Harmon told. “I think it will for sure help them navigate the markets in a swifter, smarter fashion.” 

 

 

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