Switzerland’s Publica seeks Asian real estate managers via IPE Quest

Switzerland’s largest pension fund is seeking managers for core Asian real estate mandates via IPE Quest.

Publica, which runs CHF38bn (€31.8bn) for Swiss public sector workers, plans to allocate 4% – roughly CHF1.5bn – of its portfolio to international real estate assets, according to search QN-2436.

Within this, the pension fund plans to commit 20% to pan-Asian mandates, equivalent to roughly CHF300m. It wants to invest approximately CHF70-100m per investment.

Publica wants to invest in multi-sector pooled funds investing across developed Asian markets. Its focus is on retail, office, residential and industrial assets, with other assets limited to 10% of the fund.

Exposure to non-core assets should be capped at 20%, according to the search, while leverage should not exceed 50%.

Publica said it required a “look-through” to the property level for full transparency on fees and asset allocation.

The pension fund did not specific a track record, but said managers bidding for the mandates should have “a proven track record”. Managers should state performance gross of fees to the end of March 2018.

The deadline for submissions is 25 May at 5pm UK time.

Publica said: “At the beginning of 2016 the board… decided to include an allocation of 4% to international real estate in the strategic asset allocation. The intention is to build up a broadly diversified core portfolio with allocations towards North America (50%), pan-Asia (20%) and Europe (30%). The allocation is gradually deployed across the regions.”

The goal of the real estate investments was to “enhance the risk-return profile of the overall portfolio by harvesting illiquidity and complexity premiums with broader diversification for the overall portfolio”, the fund said.

The IPE Real Assets news team is unable to answer any further questions about IPE Quest, Discovery, or Innovation tender notices to protect the interests of clients conducting the search. To obtain information directly from IPE Quest, please contact Jayna Vishram on +44 (0) 20 3465 9330 or email jayna.vishram@ipe-quest.com.