Dutch pension fund asset manager APG won the real estate category at the IPE Awards in Rotterdam on Thursday.

Belgium’s Pensioenfonds KBC and fellow Dutch investor Pensioenfonds Rail & Openbaar Vervoer were highly commended for the real estate award.

The win comes six months after the APG won real assets and infrastructure investor of the year at the IPE Real Estate Global Conference & Awards in Amsterdam in May.

According to the IPE Awards winners supplement, APG invests in both listed and private real estate, investing across the whole spectrum, including direct investments, funds, co-investments, club investments and joint ventures.

One of the judges said: “The bottom-up fundamental research in combination with a top-down vision on megatrends is outstanding, while the strategy proves that ESG and performance can go hand in hand.”

The big winner of the night was Fjärde AP-fonden (AP4), which was named European Pension Fund of the Year.

The Swedish pension fund also bagged the awards for Portfolio Construction & Diversification and Public Pension Fund. 

“Thank you very much, this is such a surprise and a great pleasure,” said AP4 chief executive Niklas Ekvall upon receiving the award, adding: ”Thanks to my team back in Stockholm for making this possible.”

The 2022 IPE Awards attracted more than 300 entries across 43 categories representing more than 20 countries, with participating investors managing €3.2trn in assets. Some 80 judges were involved in assessing entries, each bringing specialist expertise or knowledge in a particular category.

Among the 612 overall delegates, there are 226 executives from pension funds.

Find out about all the winners in our dedicated Awards Supplement