AEW has launched its first open-ended, pan-European core real estate fund, attracting Dutch investor Pensioenfonds Metaal en Techniek (PMT), a Swiss public pension, and a number of insurers, pension funds, family offices and corporates from France, Germany and Japan.
The Eurocore fund raised €410m in a first close and will pursue stable, long-term income returns by investing in a “future-proof diversified portfolio” of office, logistics and residential assets.
Dutch pension fund PMT, advised by MN, is invested in a number of pan-European real estate funds, including Barings’s European Core Property Fund and Aberdeen Standard Investments’ European Residential Property Fund.
AEW said its new fund would target investments that meet the changing demand for real estate being brought about by ongoing urbanisation, demographic changes and new technology.
There will also be a focus on mature and growing markets in Europe’s major cities, including those in France, Germany and Benelux.
Eurocore will also have a strong emphasis on environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations, will be aligned to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and will participate in sustainability benchmark GRESB.
Although Eurocore is AEW’s first open-ended, pan-European fund, the company already manages €27bn of core real estate investments, making up most of its €33bn European portfolio. The global fund manager manages more than €70bn of assets worldwide, and three quarters of these are core in profile.
The company also has a strong presence in Europe, with 421 staff based in 12 locations, and AEW already manages open-ended core funds serving the US and Asia-Pacific.
Rob Wilkinson, CEO Europe at AEW, said: “The launch of Eurocore is a further demonstration of our commitment to long-term investing in Europe and we have deliberately designed the investment strategy of the fund to anticipate the future of real estate markets.
“AEW is now one of the few firms that is able to offer investors access to open-ended, diversified fund strategies across the US, Europe and Asia.”
Christina Ofschonka, senior fund manager of Eurocore, said: “Mega-trends are disrupting our sector and are leading to changing requirements for real estate.
“The fund will focus on the logistics, residential and office sectors, and our strategy is designed to reflect these market changes, whether that is logistics supply chains becoming more localised, changing requirements for residential space, or workspaces evolving to enhance flexibility, collaboration and innovation.
“Our efforts to deploy capital have begun in earnest and we are already in exclusivity on a number of exciting assets across several European markets, with signing due to occur imminently on the initial acquisitions.
“We are monitoring a healthy pipeline of investments totalling almost €500m, as we look to grow the fund’s portfolio of future proof assets.”
