Treasury Picks 9 for PPIP

Some big commercial real estate players on the list:

Following a comprehensive two-month application evaluation and selection process, during which over 100 unique applications to participate in Legacy Securities PPIP were received, Treasury has pre-qualified the following firms (in alphabetical order) to participate as fund managers in the initial round of the program:

• AllianceBernstein, LP and its sub-advisors Greenfield Partners, LLC and Rialto Capital Management, LLC;
• Angelo, Gordon & Co., L.P. and GE Capital Real Estate;
• BlackRock, Inc.;
• Invesco Ltd.;
• Marathon Asset Management, L.P.;
• Oaktree Capital Management, L.P.;
• RLJ Western Asset Management, LP.;
• The TCW Group, Inc.; and
• Wellington Management Company, LLP.

The AG&Co/GE Partnership has at least $5 billion of real estate AUM between them, and each have well-known and highly-thought-of management teams. I would guess BlackRock has somewhere in the neighborhood of $3 billion. Marathon $800 MM and Oaktreee $600 MM. (Pure guestimations on my part -- I'm sure their respective websites include some information on the real estate portfolios.)

What strikes me, though, is (a) the fact that so-called "manipulative" and "excessively speculative" hedge funds and private equity funds are pretty much the only ones chosen, and (b) how distressed Oaktree and Marathon's real estate portfolios are. These are the managers Treasury chose?

I guess since the Treasury itself is trying to manipulate markets and overpay for assets, some of these selections make a little more sense.