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2021 ESG report: Who we are
QIC was created in 1991 by the Queensland government to serve its long-term investment responsibilities and has grown into a leading long-term specialist manager in alternatives.
As one of Australia’s largest institutional fund managers, QICGRE has during the past 30 years acquired and developed a substantial portfolio of dominant regional shopping centres and CBD commercial buildings.
We have headquarters in Brisbane, Queensland, and our Australian real estate portfolio comprises assets in Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia. We also own a portfolio of retail assets in the US.
QICGRE continues to be considered by our clients as one of Australia’s leading real estate investment managers, as consistently supported by external surveys on unlisted property managers.
QICGRE is a registered trademark and is a business division within QIC Limited (ACN 130 539 123).
For more details on our performance, please refer to the QIC Annual Report 2021.
Asset Portfolio
This report covers the physical assets owned and/or managed by QICGRE in Australia, encompassing those relevant properties held under the QIC Property Fund, QIC Town Centre Fund, QIC Active Retail Property Fund, QIC Office Fund and QIC Australia Core Plus Fund.
During the reporting period, changes to our asset portfolio comprised of:
Disposals
- Pakenham Place
- Marsden Park
100% of reportable assets included in this report are based in Australia, with information correct as at 30 June 2021.
| Retail assets | Number of assets |
| QLD | 121 |
| NSW | 4 |
| VIC | 62 |
| ACT | 1 |
| WA | 13 |
| Commercial and other assets | |
| QLD | 5 |
| NSW | 1 |
| SA | 1 |
| Future retail sites | 1 |
1 Two properties owned in a joint venture with Scentre Group being Helensvale (QLD) and Coomera Town Centre (QLD)
2 Two properties owned in a joint venture with Pacific Group of Properties being Werribee (VIC) and Epping (VIC). One property owned in a joint venture with MAB Corporation being Merrifield City (VIC)
3 Claremont Quarter (WA) is owned in a joint venture with Hawaiian.
| Australian asset profile4 | |
| Measure |
30 June 2021 |
| Gross Lettable Area (Retail) | 1,325,000m2 |
| Net Lettable Area (Office) | 141,000m2 |
| Total Lettable Area | 1,466,000m2 |
| Gross Assets Under Management | $13.3bn |
| Funds Under Management | $11.3bn |
| Retail sales | $8.2bn |
4 Reportable data for Australian assets only, as at 30 June 2021
Note: as an unlisted company, details such as operating costs and economic value retained are commercially sensitive, and therefore excluded from this report.
QIC Property Fund and QIC Town Centre Fund
The QIC Property Fund (QPF) and QIC Town Centre Fund (QTCF) were established with a clear objective to outperform benchmarks by delivering sustainable income and capital returns, and by adopting a sector-specific strategy to invest in dominant retail real estate assets.
QPF and QTCF mainly capture the performance of the retail property market by investing in a diversified portfolio of larger income-producing growth retail properties focused predominantly on the east coast of Australia. The portfolio is strategically weighted to Regional and higher-grade town centre and shopping centre assets which are, or can be, positioned to deliver sustainable income and capital returns over the long term. These Funds do not intend to purchase assets in other sectors of the real estate market, i.e. office, industrial, hotel and/or residential, unless they are deemed to be complementary or strategic additions to the existing retail holdings.
We understand that evolution is a permanent feature of the real estate sector and our proven ability to embrace these changes via our active asset management approach, allows GRE to respond in an agile manner, to each consumer market it is positioned within through its retail anchored town centre strategy.
Please note that the QIC Town Centre Fund was named the QIC Shopping Centre Fund from its inception until 30 September 2021. The Fund was renamed the QIC Town Centre Fund effective from 1 October 2021 and is referred to by its new name throughout this report.
QIC Active Retail Property Fund
The QIC Active Retail Property Fund (QARP) is a portfolio of supermarket anchored sub-regional, neighbourhood shopping centres and high-quality large format retail centres that are dominant, or have the potential to become dominant, in their trade area.
This retail sub-sector offers defensive income yields with value-add opportunities through active management, leasing and gradual small-scale development.
Established in June 2014, the Fund includes active management of three retail assets across Queensland and New South Wales, with a recent large format retail acquisition in Victoria to be added to the portfolio at the end of September 2021.
As well as initiating submission of retail assets in our QARP portfolio for Green Star Performance Portfolio Ratings and GRESB, a number of key ESG initiatives are being progressed for this portfolio, including its most recent project on solar panels, to reach our goal of embedding environmental, social and governance considerations within all of our operational assets.
QIC Office Fund
The QIC Office Fund (QOF) currently comprises a 50% ownership of four office buildings and a development site located within the Brisbane CBD. The office buildings are predominately leased to the Queensland State Government.
The Fund strategy is to diversify and construct a portfolio of well-located and high-quality Australian office assets which will meet the evolving demands of the workforce. A key component of this strategy includes a heightened focus on health and wellness and minimising our environmental footprint.
QIC Australia Core Plus Fund
The QIC Australia Core Plus Fund (QACPF) is an open-ended diversified fund that provides institutional investors access to a portfolio of high-quality assets with defensive income yields and value add opportunities.
Applying an active management approach, QACPF has the flexibility to drive returns by adjusting its exposure across all commercial property sectors including retail, office, industrial and select alternative classes, including healthcare.
As well as initiating submission of retail assets in our QACPF portfolio for Green Star Performance Portfolio Ratings and GRESB, a number of key ESG initiatives are being progressed for this portfolio to reach our goal of embedding environmental, social and governance considerations within all of our operational assets.
