A duo of German church pension funds have hired Institutional Investment Partners (2IP) to merge their real estate portfolios and manage it under a newly created fund of funds strategy.
The Kirchliche Zusatzversorgungskasse Rheinland-Westfalen (KZVK) and the Gemeinsame Versorgungskasse für Pfarrer und Kirchenbeamte (VKPB) have appointed 2IP to merge and run the existing and future real estate investments of both schemes.
KZVK will focus on the portfolio management of the new fund of funds, while outsourcing administrative activities to 2IP. The new fund of funds currently has around 20 European funds in its portfolio and it is expected to reach a mid-single-digit billion volume by 2030.
Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia-based KZVK provides occupational pensions to employees of the church and diaconal employers.
VKPB is a first-pillar scheme for pastors and church officials of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, the Evangelical Church of Westphalia and the Regional Church in Lippe, North Rhine-Westphalia.
Axel Rahn, the head of asset management at KZVK, said that the pension schemes aim to expand the existing partnership in the long term by setting up a fund of funds and mandating 2IP.
Georg Klusak, a managing partner at 2IG, said: “We see ourselves as a long-term partner of KZVK, beyond the mere administration of the fund. We want KZVK to focus entirely on portfolio management, in particular the investment process.”
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