Who we are:
The Townsend Group (“Townsend”) was founded in 1983 by Terry Ahern and Kevin Lynch. On December
29, 2017, Aon (NYSE: AON) completed its acquisition of The Townsend Group. Townsend is now a wholly-
owned subsidiary of Aon, within Aon’s Global Retirement and Investments business segment. Townsend
is responsible for Aon’s real asset investments (real estate, timber, agriculture and infrastructure). Aon’s
existing real asset teams have joined the Townsend business unit. While the ownership of Townsend
changed as a result of this transaction, Townsend’s business relationships and commitments to its clients
remain the same. As of May 17, 2022, Terry Ahern retired and was appointed Townsend’s Chairman
Emeritus; Anthony Frammartino has assumed leadership of Townsend as President.
Townsend provides a core set of investment skills, exclusively focused on global real estate and real asset
classes. Townsend is actively engaged in providing investment management services to its discretionary
clients, which includes directing, on its clients’ behalf, the investment of client assets. Townsend also
provides investment advice to its non-discretionary clients, which allows clients to invest their own assets
after studying Townsend’s recommendations or research. Townsend provides these custom investment
solutions to help meet the needs and objectives of its clients’ investment programs using primary funds,
secondaries, joint ventures and co-investments, among other types of investment solutions. These
custom solutions may also include real assets such as timber, agriculture and infrastructure. Townsend
employs a full-time, dedicated team responsible for developing and maintaining a global perspective on
these sectors and available opportunities. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the firm has dedicated
Townsend offices in San Francisco, London, and Hong Kong. Two Aon designated offices also house
Townsend employees in Chicago and Toronto.
What we do: Townsend specializes in providing continuous and regular supervisory or management
services generally limited to real estate related investment products. Examples of such services include,
but are not limited to, the following:
1. Assisting clients in developing investment objectives, strategic and investment plans and
investment guidelines and restrictions.
2. Assisting clients in implementing their strategic and investment plans by delivering investment
recommendations and research (in the case of non-discretionary clients) and by selecting and
directing investments (in the case of discretionary clients); in both instances Townsend may also
offer advice and/or implement hedging strategies on behalf of such clients.
3. Working with clients to invest in pooled investment vehicles or creating a separate account
mandate.
4. Assisting clients in the selection of other investment advisers or third party service providers.
5. Negotiating with the managers of funds or separate accounts to improve fee structures and other
business terms for Townsend's clients.
6. Monitoring investment performance and delivering quarterly reports to clients related to (i)
investment activity, (ii)
investment performance, (iii) portfolio composition, (iv) diversification by
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property type and by location and (v) other measurements that are relevant to assessing
performance and the composition of the client's real estate portfolio.
7. Meeting with clients periodically to discuss performance and strategy.
8. Performing incidental functions and providing other similar services.
The exact scope of services provided to each client varies depending upon the terms of Townsend's
engagement by that client. Recommendations and investment decisions are based on analysis conducted
by Townsend's investment professionals. These decisions are supported by Townsend’s Investment
Committee, which includes nine of Townsend’s most senior investment professionals. The Investment
Committee reviews and approves all investment decisions at the investment and client-portfolio level. It
also conducts formal portfolio reviews on a bi-annual basis. The Committee will review and approve each
client investment recommendation for portfolio fit and consistency with strategic goals, and opine on the
final deliverable in order to maintain consistency and quality control. In addition, investment
recommendations, portfolio strategy decisions, investment planning, portfolio execution, and fund
amendments, among other things, will also be reviewed and approved by the Committee prior to a formal
recommendation.
How we tailor these services to you: Many of Townsend's services are performed by Townsend's
investment advisory and portfolio management staff, under the supervision of Townsend's Investment
Committee, which is ultimately responsible for all client strategic planning and investment-related
decisions. Among the client matters reviewed by the Investment Committee are strategic plans, manager
selection, pooled fund selection, direct investments and portfolio construction. Townsend typically works
with the client in developing the client’s investment plan, which may include restrictions imposed by the
client in certain securities or types of securities.
Townsend’s Assets under Management: Townsend provided services on behalf of regulatory assets under
management of approximately $22,118,740,672 consisting of $17,601,273,621 in discretionary client
assets and $4,517,467,051 in non-discretionary client assets. The contractual arrangements with client
accounts comprising the non-discretionary assets under management provide the client with the ability
to opt out of or into particular transactions, or provides other ancillary control rights over investment
decision-making, depending on the specific client agreement. In each case, should the client continue
with the transaction, Townsend is responsible for effecting the purchase or sale. Because Townsend relies
on third parties to provide asset valuations, some of these third parties may take more than 90 days after
the quarter end to provide such valuations. As a result, the figure above has been calculated using
September 30, 2023 figures. If the figure changes materially from September 30, 2023 to December 31,
2023, Townsend will update this brochure.