New York-based TIAA-CREF, a financial services provider, completed the launch of its previously announced real estate joint venture with Henderson Global Investor, a European investment manager.

The new real estate investment management company is titled TIAA Henderson Real Estate and will pursue core and value-add investment opportunities in all major sectors of global commercial real estate.

From here, the company launches with a combined $22.6 billion of assets under management across 50 funds and mandates, overseen by a network of offices in Asia, Europe and North America.

"TIAA-CREF continues to evolve and expand its asset management business, and today's launch is a major step forward in our strategy to build a truly global investment organization," said Rob Leary, president, TIAA-CREF Asset Management.

"Expanding the scale and scope of our global real estate business, already one of the largest and most diverse real estate investing platforms in the world, strengthens the franchise and helps us continue to meet the needs of sophisticated institutional clients," Leary added.