AEW enters joint venture.

Aldrich, Eastman & Waltch, L.P. ("AEW") announced that it has entered into a joint venture agreement with the Resolution Trust Corporation to purchase up to $800 million of real estate assets from the RTC.

This arrangement, referred to as the Multiple Investor Fund Program, will serve as the primary vehicle for the RTC's disposition of distressed real estate assets. AEW is the only pension fund advisor among the three sponsors awarded transaction rights by the RTC for the Multiple Investor Fund.

AEW has assembled a team to facilitate the asset management and securitization of these assets. The other members of the AEW team include Midland Data Systems, a major loan servicer and asset manager for the RTC, and Daiwa Securities, and underwriter with substantial experience in the area of nonperforming 'loans.

The new Multiple Investor Fund arrangement has several attractive advantages for the RTC, according to AEW. First, the ultimate beneficiaries of the RTC liquidation process will now be a broad base of workers who contribute to the pension funds that AEW represents. Secondly, as a 50 percent partner in the joint venture, the RTC will both share the risks of the Fund and participate significantly in its "upside" potential, thus providing the opportunity for future benefits to taxpayers.