German public pension fund Rheinische Versorgungskassen (RVK) has awarded AEW a €150m mandate to invest in core French office and retail assets.

With target leverage of between 40-45%, the separate account mandate will have a total investment capacity of €250m to €300m.

Announcing the deal, AEW said the investment will mainly focus on retail and office assets, with an 80% weighting on the Paris market, adding that it has already established a pipeline of over €100m of potential acquisitions, with a number currently in due diligence.

Stephan Boenning, head of Germany and CEE at AEW, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded this mandate which demonstrates the importance of our European platform and our ability to draw on a network of local experts.

“We have already identified a number of investment opportunities in France and are looking forward to making our first acquisitions on behalf of RVK in the next weeks.”

The €6.53bn RVK currently has a €1.5bn real estate portfolio.