DENMARK - ATP Real Estate still has €300m of outstanding equity to put into the non-listed real estate markets, but has moved its focus away from large commingled funds to club deals with like-minded investors.

The indirect property manager for Denmark's largest pension fund is also looking to issue smaller capital commitments going forward, preferring to invest the €300m in several funds rather than concentrating the risk in a smaller number of vehicles.

"I would definitely prefer to have five or six funds instead of two funds [each] with a €150m commitment," said Michael Nielsen, head of real estate at ATP. "Our commitments have become a little bit smaller."

Nielsen explained that ATP Real Estate is not "spending much time on what we define as standard products in the market".

He added: "We prefer to work on club-type investments right now. It is so important these days to know who are the other partners in a fund.

"We don't want to step into a fund where you could end up being together with 30 many different investors. We prefer smaller clubs, with perhaps up to five, six or seven."

ATP Real Estate's most recent investments include a €75m commitment in October to Heitman's value-added fund targeting central and eastern Europe and two commitments of over $70m to two US value-added funds.

The pension fund is looking "extraordinary opportunities" that could well come from the UK or US real estate markets.

"Our intention is to line money up in what we see as the most interesting markets," Nielsen said. "It could be the UK. It could be the US."

ATP Real Estate is looking for a "strong aligned manager" which the investors can be sure will act cautiously and "wait for the right time to invest," Nielsen said.

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