MassMutual subsidiary Barings targets real assets secondaries

Barings, a financial services firm with $325 billion in assets under management, has entered the real assets secondaries market.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-headquartered asset manager has raised $235 million to invest in real assets via primary fund placements, secondaries and co-investments on a global basis, according to a statement.

Barings Global Real Assets Fund can invest as much as 10 percent via secondaries and has already closed one such transaction, a spokeswoman for the firm told sister publication Secondaries Investor.

BGRAF had been in market since February last year, according to PEI data. Investors include State of Michigan Retirement Systems, which committed $100 million. The fund’s initial target is not clear.

Barings, a subsidiary of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, invests across alternatives, high-yield fixed income and private credit, according to its website. As of 31 March it had $4.8 billion invested in real assets and real-asset-based businesses.

Purchases of infrastructure fund stakes grew 68 percent year-on-year to $3 billion last year, according to a report from intermediary Setter Capital. Around 10 percent of the top 50 infrastructure fundraisers, as per the Infrastructure Investor 50 ranking, have undertaken a fund continuation or GP-led secondaries deal, Infrastructure Investor reported last month.