SWITZERLAND - Swiss pension fund BVK is confident that opportunistic fund managers it has committed capital to will soon begin to see more opportunities in the global real estate markets.

The pension fund for workers of the Swiss canton Zurich has already capitalised on global market corrections to invest in core real estate at low prices, through a core-satellite global real estate strategy.

Now Stefan Schädle, head of real estate at BVK, believes its opportunistic managers will begin investing its capital.

BVK has allocated 4% of its CHF20bn (€13.94bn) in total assets under management to a global real estate funds strategy, managed by Strategic Capital Management.

It has so far invested only 2.5% on an international basis but Schädle is keen to continue to build up the pension fund's global exposure.

"We think we have better opportunities to invest, especially on the opportunistic part," he said.

BVK has invested in a number of core properties in markets such as the UK and Australia in recent months through its global funds strategy, and through global investment company AFIAA, which BVK owns along with several other Swiss pension funds.

"We did invest especially in London with AFIAA," Schädle said. "Last year you had good opportunities to get a yield of 7-8% for class-A properties."

But Schädle said the pension fund's investment managers had yet to invest in the US where the real estate market is yet to bottom out.

BVK's global real estate allocation is much smaller than its directly held property portfolio in Switzerland, which currently stands at 18.4% of total assets.

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