The Nuveen Global Real Estate Carbon Reduction strategy aims to provide long-term capital appreciation and current income by investing in real estate companies that have either achieved carbon neutrality, or have a target to or track record of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in a manner that is aligned with the Paris Agreement.

In a statement, Nuveen said that the durability of real estate combined with increasing interest in carbon reduction solutions can potentially provide a long runway for future growth within carbon-aware real estate securities. 'Global efforts to combat climate change are fuelling worldwide demand for decarbonization-focused investments, while cyclical tailwinds in real estate such as favourable valuations, healthy fundamentals and solid earnings & dividend growth may help create compelling investment opportunities,' the firm added.

Jay Rosenberg, head of public real assets, and Ben Kerl, portfolio manager and head of listed real estate investments, will co-manage the strategy, supported by Scott Sedlak and Jagdeep Ghuman, respectively the regional real estate leads in the US and Asia.

The strategy joins Nuveen’s other Article 9 strategies; the Global Core Impact Bond, US Core Impact Bond, Emerging Markets Impact Debt and Global Clean Energy Infrastructure Impact strategies.

'Global carbon emissions are on track to increase temperatures by 4-5°C, leading to likely catastrophic effects on the world as we know it. Buildings are thought to be responsible for approximately 40% of global carbon emissions, a figure we believe could be hugely reduced by implementing creative plans to reduce emissions,' commented Ben Kerl. 'We believe companies that are committed to these plans have the potential to deliver superior long-term returns as a result of reduced future financial liabilities, better pricing power for assets by appealing to a larger pool of tenants, and superior access to debt and equity capital. We are excited to offer this strategy to our clients, who are increasingly looking for portfolio diversification away from traditional equity and fixed income asset classes against a backdrop of challenging market conditions.'

Nuveen also manages $151 bn across private real estate, and has committed to achieving net zero carbon across its private real estate portfolio by 2040.