China Life Insurance Group has invested in U.S. real estate before, but the insurer’s nearly $1 billion (£0.78 billion) deal this week with Clayton-based ElmTree Funds LLC was a further sign of increasing investor appetite for properties beyond the hottest U.S. cities.
For nine months, Jim Koman’s ElmTree Funds, launched in 2011, worked to sell the merits of a portfolio of 48 commercial properties located in smaller markets across the Midwest, Southeast and Southwest.
