Julie Henderson
NewsAsh cloud forces INREV to cancel Venice conference
EUROPE – INREV, the European Association for Investors in Non-listed Real Estate Vehicles, has been forced to cancel its annual conference, which was scheduled to take place later this week.
NewsGerman investors return to real estate
GERMANY – The percentage of German institutions investing in real estate has increased four-fold over the last year and the interest in infrastructure has also gone up, a survey by IPE Institutional Investment has found.
NewsGermany and UK at greatest risk from 'problem' loans
EUROPE – Germany and the UK are more exposed to more than the €200bn pool of real estate loans identified by CB Richard Ellis as “problematic” than any other markets in Europe.
NewsIPE Real Estate’s Top 100 finds Swiss investors favour property
EUROPE – Four Dutch pension funds are among the top 10 institutional real estate investors but Swiss pension funds tend to have the highest allocation to the sector, according to IPE Real Estate’s inaugural Top 100 institutional real estate investors.
- Magazine
Property as a hedge
Pension funds are increasingly considering the role of property in an LDI or inflation hedging strategy. Julie Henderson examines some of the issues
NewsProperty bounce aides Belgian pension funds
BELGIUM – A study of 90 active pension funds by consultancy Mercer suggests Belgian pension funds returned a median of 18.5% on investments by the end of 2009, thanks to a rally in equities and real estate.
NewsPension funds called on to invest in infrastructure
UK – The UK government has called on pension funds to consider investing in infrastructure, as officials admit hundreds billions of pounds of investments is needed over the next 10 years.
NewsPension investors unveil environmental real estate index
GLOBAL – A study conducted on behalf of three major European pension investors has led to the launch of a global Environmental Real Estate index, after evidence showed few property managers meet the global standards pension funds expect when it comes to tackling environmental issues.
NewsPension funds consider shift back into property
EUROPE – European and North American pension funds are planning to increase investments in real estate over the coming year and the majority of schemes are reviewing external managers, an asset allocation survey has suggested.
NewsBP pension fund and GPE buy a piece of London’s Regent St
UK – F&C REIT Asset Management and AREA Property Partners have sold one of the top assets from the Dawnay Day portfolio they acquired in March to the BP pension fund and Great Portland Estates (GPE).
NewsING RE FoF shake-up shakes out Cooper
GLOBAL – Global multi-manager ING Real Estate Select is to lose its founder and chief executive because it is relocating to its parent company’s home country.
NewsState Street acquires Mourant to build alternatives presence
GLOBAL – State Street Corporation has made a fresh move to build its presence in the global administration market and acquired alternative investments administrator Mourant International Finance Administration (MIFA) in a cash deal.
NewsCBRE takes over Merseyside contract
UK – The Merseyside Pension Fund has appointed CB Richard Ellis Real Estate Finance as its strategic property adviser, replacing Savills , following a detailed tendering exercise.
NewsConsultancy LCP encourages return to UK property
UK – Consulting firm Lane, Clark & Peacock is advising its pension fund clients to move back into investing in UK property, following recently improved sentiment towards the UK commercial sector.
NewsProgress almost complete on real estate disposal
NETHERLANDS – Progress, the Dutch pension fund of food giant Unilever, is close to completing the disposal of its entire directly-held real estate portfolio.
NewsSBZ completes investment outsourcing in tough market
NETHERLANDS – SBZ, the €2.3bn pension fund for health insurance employees, has completed the final stage of its outsourcing to Russell Investments and moved its indirect real estate holding to the asset manager, following a sale of its direct domestic holdings.
MagazineDanes take stock
Reassess investment processes; address alignment and look again at fee structures; invest opportunistically. These were among the issues Danish investors were dealing with when Martin Hurst visited some of them recently.
NewsBMW pension redistributes its real estate
UK – The UK pension fund of car manufacturer BMW has sold a distribution centre in Europort, Wakefield to UK real estate company Patrick Properties.
NewsAIFM could bring less fund choice, claims law firm
EUROPE – A Paris-headquartered law firm has warned current proposals for the Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) Directive could lead to a lack of choice of funds in the future unless European officials can work with US and international counterparts to improve regulatory terms on alternative investments.
NewsLondon property attracts overseas interest
UK - Investment in London commercial property has risen for the first time since the second half of 2007, according to new figures from Cushman & Wakefield.
