GERMANY - LaSalle Investment Management has announced plans to launch a capital investment fund (KAG) in Germany in an effort to better cater to institutional investors in the Germanic region.
Under proposals currently waiting approval from the regulator BaFin, LaSalle has launched wholly-owned subsidy LaSalle Vermögensverwaltungs GmbH, to become LaSalle Investment Management KAG once the licence has been approved.
Claus Thomas, regional director of LaSalle in Germany, is expected to be a member of the new KAG's supervisory board.
Thomas said: "Our intention to establish a KAG in Germany and to launch a specialist investment fund places long-term emphasis on our belief in the strategic potential of the German market - both in terms of its real estate and investors.
"It will also allow us to provide the German institutional investor market, which is an increasingly important source of capital in Europe, with tailor-made access to international investments by combining LaSalle's global real estate presence with local reach," he added.
Thomas has since confirmed that further intended members of the supervisory board are David Ironside, current managing director of LaSalle Investment Management in Germany.
Andy Watson, international director of the company's Parisian office, is also expected supervise the new entity.
Thomas declined to give further details of investment plans until BaFin had granted the new KAG its licence.
He conceded that LaSalle had so far been a niche player in Germany, but said that acquiring the KAG licence should hopefully change the situation.
