This article was published on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 5:53 p.m. on Sep. 17, 2025.
The National Pension Service (NPS), which manages assets totaling 1200 trillion won, is positively considering investing about 140 billion won in a fund that invests in U.S. rental housing. Analysts interpret this as a response to growing talk that the U.S. real estate market has passed its trough and the opportunity to secure rental income denominated in dollars.
According to investment banking industry sources on the 17th, the NPS recently began due diligence to invest $100 million (about 183 billion won) in a blind fund of U.S. real estate manager Berkshire Residential Investments (hereafter Berkshire).
Berkshire is a private real estate investment firm founded in 1966 and based in Boston, and it is a different company from Berkshire Hathaway led by Warren Buffett. Sources say this would be the first time the NPS has invested in a fund managed by this firm.
Since last year, Berkshire has been raising the equity fund Berkshire Value Fund VI and the credit fund Berkshire Multifamily Credit Fund IV. Their target amounts are reportedly $750 million (about 100 billion won) and $1.85 billion (about 250 billion won), respectively. The NPS is said to be considering investing in the equity fund among them.
Berkshire Value Fund VI is a private real estate fund that buys rental housing such as A- and B-class apartments in major U.S. metropolitan areas, remodels them and generates revenue. This is called "multifamily," and it is a common investment approach in the U.S. As of June, it was understood to have raised more than $400 million.
The reason the NPS seeks to invest 140 billion won in this fund is interpreted as aiming to secure a stable source of dollar-denominated revenue while obtaining opportunities to buy good apartments in the U.S. real estate market at low prices.
Currently, the U.S. real estate market is seeing an increase in listings due to interest rate and loan maturity pressures, and analysts say prices have gone through a round of adjustment. Global large asset managers have also actively resumed apartment acquisitions and investments since last year.
In the case of Blackstone, the world's largest private equity firm, it acquired the private rental housing company Apartment Income REIT last April for about $10 billion including liabilities. This acquisition gave Blackstone ownership of more than 27,000 apartment units across the U.S. Blackstone said it would invest about $400 million in building management and renovation costs following the REIT acquisition.
Also, receiving rental income denominated in U.S. dollars could help the NPS with currency diversification of its overall portfolio.