Swiss Life establishes property fund platform for German investors

Swiss Life Asset Managers plans to launch German-regulated real estate funds after creating a new German investment management firm.

The Swiss asset manager has been given a KVG licence from German financial supervisory authority BaFin.

The Swiss Life KVG will launch open and closed-end real estate investment funds for institutional investors.

Stefan Mächler, chief investment officer of the Swiss Life Group, said: “With Swiss Life KVG, we are creating a platform for setting up our own real estate funds in Germany.

“Together with our German subsidiary Corpus Sireo, we want to use this to promote business with institutional and private investors in one of Europe’s leading investment markets.”

Mächler said Swiss Life KVG will launch its first funds in a few weeks and will be supported by Corpus Sireo. Swiss Life Asset Managers paid three German savings banks €210m for Corpus Sireo in August 2014.

Swiss Life KVG will be managed by Ingo Hartlief and Christine Bernhofer.

Hartlief, chief executive of Swiss Life KVG, said: “Swiss Life KVG will tap into new, attractive potential in the German real estate sector.

“We will thus help our parent company expand its fund activities in one of the most significant European real estate markets.”