Almanac Realty Investors Commits $250 Million to AmCap Ventures in Inaugural Horizon Fund Deployment with Australian Retirement Trust
Almanac Realty Investors has committed $250 million in growth capital to Stamford, Connecticut-based AmCap Ventures, the firms announced Aug. 12, marking the inaugural deployment of Almanac's Horizon Fund — a $1 billion investment vehicle established in partnership with Australian Retirement Trust.
The commitment will be used to accelerate AmCap's strategy of acquiring grocery-anchored and necessity retail shopping centers across top-tier U.S. metropolitan markets, with a focus on densely populated submarkets characterized by high barriers to entry. Almanac will also make a direct investment into the AmCap operating business alongside the capital commitment.
Horizon Fund's First Deployment Targets Necessity Retail
Almanac's Horizon Fund was established as a fund-of-one to target U.S. real estate operating companies within a core and core-plus risk-return profile — a strategy distinct from Almanac's value-add closed-end fund series. Almanac, the private real estate arm of Neuberger Berman, has committed more than $8.8 billion in capital to 55 real estate companies since its founding in 1981 under the name Rothschild Realty.
For Australian Retirement Trust, Horizon represents the fund's first dedicated strategy focused solely on real estate operating companies. The partnership deepens ART's allocation to the sector as the fund pursues a longer-term target of 25% of its real estate portfolio invested in operating company structures. Australian Retirement Trust manages more than $370 billion in retirement savings on behalf of more than 2.4 million members.
"We welcome this investment in AmCap, a specialist U.S. retail real estate operating platform with an established track record in grocery-anchored and necessity-based retail," said Michael Weaver, General Manager – Mid Risk Assets, Australian Retirement Trust. "This investment provides ART members with exposure to a sector supported by resilient consumer demand, limited new supply and experienced local operating capability, and reflects our long-term strategy of partnering with experienced operators in sectors with strong underlying fundamentals."
Justin Hakimian, Managing Director at Almanac, said the firm views AmCap as well-positioned to execute on an acquisition pipeline where hands-on management and leasing capabilities can drive risk-adjusted returns. "AmCap is a seasoned, operationally driven real estate platform with a demonstrated track record of acquiring and operating retail assets across high-growth U.S. markets," Hakimian said. "Under the leadership of Jake Bisenius and team, the company is well-positioned to execute on an attractive pipeline of acquisitions where hands-on management and leasing capabilities will drive outsized risk-adjusted returns."
Eight-Asset Portfolio Acquisition Expands AmCap's Western and Sun Belt Footprint
Concurrent with the closing of the partnership, AmCap acquired a portfolio of eight open-air retail assets totaling approximately 771,000 square feet. The properties are located across California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Iowa, and Kansas, and are anchored by Whole Foods, Sprouts, Trader Joe's, and WinCo Foods. The purchase price was not disclosed.
The acquisition brings AmCap's owned and operated portfolio to 32 institutional-quality retail properties totaling approximately 5.0 million square feet across major U.S. market regions. The firm manages more than $1 billion of gross assets across 24 states and has closed approximately $3 billion of core, core-plus, and value-add grocery-anchored transactions since its founding in 1979.
"We are pleased to partner with Almanac and ART on the inaugural Horizon investment," said Jake Bisenius, AmCap CEO. "Their conviction in necessity retail mirrors our own, and we see significant opportunity to expand our footprint in the dense, supply-constrained markets that have defined our firm since 1979."
Concurrent with the closing, AmCap announced it will transition to operating under the name "ACX," marking a rebrand of the platform rather than a structural reset of its operations or strategy.
Grocery-Anchored Retail Draws Institutional Capital Amid Steady Fundamentals
The transaction comes as grocery-anchored retail has remained one of the more stable segments of commercial real estate, supported by resilient consumer demand for necessity-based goods and limited new supply in high-barrier trade areas. Almanac's selection of AmCap as Horizon's first portfolio company reflects its conviction in necessity retail as a structurally resilient asset class, according to the firm.
AmCap's vertically integrated platform encompasses acquisition, leasing, asset management, property management, and disposition capabilities in-house. The firm's executive team averages nearly 20 years of tenure, and the company operates offices in Stamford, Connecticut, and Denver, Colorado.
Almanac's Horizon Fund is structured to target lower-leveraged, stabilized operating platforms with embedded management teams — an approach the firm says offers a differentiated return profile for institutional capital compared with traditional closed-end fund structures.
About the Firms
Almanac Realty Investors is a business unit of Neuberger, an employee-owned, independent investment manager founded in 1939 that manages $613 billion across equities, fixed income, private markets, real estate, and hedge fund portfolios globally. AmCap Ventures, founded in 1979, focuses exclusively on the acquisition and management of grocery-anchored and necessity retail centers in top 100 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas. Australian Retirement Trust is one of Australia's largest superannuation funds.