A French cities office investment fund set up by insurance firms Mapfre and Swiss Life has invested €296.1m in nine buildings.
The parties have invested equal amounts in 22,000sqm of Paris office assets.
The buildings are located at 10 and 12 avenue de Messine; 51 rue d’Anjou; 112 and 114 rue la Boétie; 150 boulevard Haussmann; 43 rue Liège; and four other properties on Cité Paradis.
In March last year, Mapfre and Swiss Life agreed to invest in the prime office locations of the main French cities. The assets will be managed by Swiss Life Asset Managers, Real Estate France.
Spanish insurance group Mapfre said these latest investments reflect the company’s strategy of diversifying its portfolio to include other types of financial assets and gradually increasing its portfolio of alternative investments in a bid to ”protect profitability against the prevailing climate of low-interest rates”.
Last Thursday, Mapfre’s board of directors approved a further €500m in alternative investments, which is on top of the €550m already approved, of which some €350m has already been used, while the rest is fully committed.
