Clarion Lion Properties Fund
Overview
Clarion Lion Properties Fund ("LPF" / "CLPF") is an open-end, diversified core real estate commingled fund sponsored and managed by Clarion Partners, LLC (a specialist real estate manager of Franklin Templeton, formed as an affiliate via the July 2020 Franklin Resources acquisition of Legg Mason; Clarion itself became an independent Legg Mason affiliate in April 2016). The vehicle is organized as a Delaware limited partnership (SEC CIK 0001129758). Vintage: an independent institutional due-diligence memo (The Townsend Group/Aon, prepared for Nebraska Investment Council, Aug 2021) states "Strategy Inception: April 2000" — this corroborates, via a second credible source, the March 2000 Florida LLC registration date for "Clarion Lion Properties Fund, LLC" found in the first pass, so April/2000 vintage can now be treated as reasonably well-corroborated rather than merely approximate. The fund invests in unleveraged-to-modestly-leveraged, institutional-quality U.S. commercial real estate across office, industrial, apartment, retail and (since a first transaction in 2012) life science property types, benchmarked to NCREIF NFI-ODCE; per the Aug 2021 Townsend/Aon memo the fund had outperformed NFI-ODCE over the trailing 1-, 3-, 5-, 7- and 10-year periods. Fund size/leverage trajectory (multiple corroborating consultant snapshots): ~$8.2B NAV / ~$11.2B GAV and 23.3% leverage as of 3/31/2018 (165... average asset size $78M then); ~$12.2B NAV (24.8% leverage, 165 holdings, avg. asset size $67.7M, minimum commitment quoted as $5M) as of Aug 2021, alongside a separate 2021 investor presentation citing ~$18.0B GAV; Form ADV data showing ~$18.41B gross assets and 578 beneficial owners (minimum investment quoted there as $10M — this conflicts with the $5M "Minimum Commitment" in the Townsend/Aon memo; not reconciled, flagged below), Reg D 3(c)(7) exclusion, custodian Bank of America/Merrill, auditor PwC; a Feb 2023 news report citing $20.2B NAV at year-end 2022; and current PitchBook data putting the fund near $22.1B. Confirmed institutional investors: LACERA ($600 million commitment, approved February 2023) and Illinois SURS ($225 million commitment, approved 2022 as part of a move to raise its real-assets target allocation from 10% to 13%). Fund leadership has evolved since the sourced 2021 materials: as of 2018 and through 2021, Ralph "Jeb" Belford was Lead Portfolio Manager (joined LPF 1995/became PM 2013) with Jon Gelb and Katie Vaz as Assistant Portfolio Managers; per Clarion Partners' current official leadership page and other current profiles, Jeb Belford has since been promoted to firm-wide Chief Investment Officer and chairman of Clarion's Investment Committee, while Jon Gelb is now the fund's Lead Portfolio Manager (responsible for acquisitions/dispositions, asset management and investor communications). David Gilbert is Chairman & CEO of Clarion Partners (joined Clarion 2007); Heather Hopkins was CFO as of the 2021 memo; Josh Pristaw joined as President in 2025. Katie Vaz's current role was not reconfirmed in this pass.
Key Facts
- Fund type
- Open-End Core Real Estate
- Vintage year
- 2000
- Strategy
- Core
- Managed by
- Clarion Partners
- Fund size
- USD 22.1B
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Last updated July 8, 2026