A note to Insiders: We’ve been workshopping this theory here at The Promote that fundraising prowess has close to zero to do with investing prowess, at least once you’re minted. The biggest AUM Gobblers ™ are a black hole ⚫ of capital, despite putting up returns that might make a lesser manager squirm. Business media being what it is – something we think about a ton – the noise often drowns out the signal. But every once in a while, it’s right there, in black & white, printed on paper containing recycled fiber. Today, we look at a series of heavy CRE losses at the retirement giant for America's teachers and professors. Hope you find this interesting, and if you know someone who’d benefit from reading this and might want to become an Insider, forward it along – they can get 10% off here. - HS

The TIAA Real Estate Account, which manages ≈ $23B on behalf of educators, recently posted its prospectus. It details the account’s latest sales activity, and it’s been a rough go: From June ‘25 through Feb ‘26, the account (run by Chris Burk) sold 15 properties, across asset classes and markets. A dozen of them sold at losses, while 3 had modest gains – in total, the account realized net losses of $429M across those 15 deals, per a review of the prospectus by The Promote. Of course, one man’s loss is another man’s discounted buy, and diving into the prospectus shows both how hard the people actually bearing the risk — individual retirees — get hit when CRE turns, and what the buyers circling this market, the David Werners, Sakhais and Carmels of the world, have been feeding on. 🦈

Let’s take 440 Ninth Ave, a Manhattan office tower that TIAA, via its asset manager Nuveen, had bought with Taconic Investment Partners (Paul Pariser, Charlie Bendit) from Unizo for $269M ($650/ 🦶) in ‘18. At the time, Nuveen’s Nadir Settles described Taconic as a partner that “shares our vision to maximize investment returns and reimagine NYC’s office towers,” with the JV looking to position the property as a solid alternative to nearby Hudson Yards. MetLife 😭 financed the deal w/ a $137M loan, but the new owners just couldn’t make it work. Last summer, David Werner (See our snapshot of him here) swooped in w/ a $100M ($240/ 🦶 ) deal to buy the joint in a short sale. The equity was obliterated, and TIAA, which held an ≈89% stake, realized a $160M loss, the May ‘26 prospectus shows.

This week on the pod, we dive into the high-stakes, high-reward (not for shareholders tho) world of SL Green, the mighty REIT that is New York’s largest commercial landlord. From a deal junkie standpoint, SL Green is king of the hill, but no matter what it does, it can’t seem to get Wall Street to love it. Next, we convert our dollars to lek and head to Albania 🦩 , where Jared Kushner is trying to create the next St. Barths. And finally, we load up those 10-cent bags and go shopping - for grocery anchored retail with TPG and friends. Plus, our "Punch List" rundown of the newsiest industry happenings: Brookfield's DC shutdown; Amancio Ortega's CRE fixer; Bears to Indiana; LA mayoral race; and Paul Massey folds.

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“Looking only at realized gains and losses in isolation is essentially like taking just the expense side of an income statement and not including the income — it doesn't produce a meaningful picture of performance,” a Nuveen rep said in a statement to The Promote. “A complete and accurate view requires netting those realized amounts against the corresponding movements in the unrealized accounts over the same period.”