Starwood creates largest-ever fund

Starwood Capital
Starwood Capital Group completed $2.8 billion in fundraising for two equity funds, including a $1.8 billion fund that is the largest it created in its 19-year history.

Greenwich-based Starwood Capital invests in a wide range of real estate, including commercial offices, residential developments and hotels.
Starwood Capital has raised $4.4 billion since January 2009, with investment vehicles including a debt fund, the initial public offering of stock of Starwood Property Trust and a Starwood Capital-led consortium”™s acquisition of Corus Bank assets from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
“Our conservative investment discipline led us to dramatically decrease our investment pace between 2005 and 2008 as the markets became overheated,” said Barry Sternlicht, CEO of Starwood Capital, in a prepared statement. “In 2009, however, we returned to the markets aggressively and have since invested nearly $1.5 billion.”

Starwood Capital today manages some $16 billion of assets across three businesses, with other affiliates including Starwood Energy Group, which is currently building Canada”™s largest solar facility and owns power plants in California and Colorado, and Starwood Real Estate Securities, a hedge fund.

Illume Capital
Illume Capital Management reportedly is launching a hedge fund with some $100 million in capital.

According to HFMWeek, the fund is focusing on volatility and long-short strategies. Founder Kevin Kulak previously worked at DFS Capital Management and Amida Capital Management.

State investments
The state of Connecticut invested $100 million with Landmark Partners, an investment manager with offices in Simsbury and Boston, and $75 million with Audax Group, which has offices in Boston and New York City.

The office of state Treasurer Denise Nappier is also considering several companies to manage an absolute return fund, including UBS Global Asset Management; K2 Advisors L.L.C., which has a Stamford office; The Rock Creek Group L.P. of Washington, D.C.; and Blackstone Alternative Asset Management L.P., Permal Group Ltd. and Prisma Capital Partners L.P., which all have offices in New York City.