GERMANY – The newly created Project Investment group is among the first to launch a real estate Investment KG, the new pooling vehicle under the Kapitalanlagegesetzbuch (KAGB) in Germany.
The German government passed the so-called KAGB, set to come into effect from 22 July, to comply with the Alternative Investment Fund Manager Directive (AIFMD).
The closed-end fund specialist Project Investment group had announced in the autumn of last year that it wanted to start offering funds for institutional investors.
Now the Bamberg-based company has said it plans to launch an AIFMD-regulated investment fund for institutional investors in the framework of a Kommanditgesellschaft (KG), a limited partnership.
"The design of the fund is the result of many talks with institutional investors," it said.
Jürgen Uwira of Geschäftsführer Project Real Estate Trust, told IPE that a Luxembourg Spezialfonds would not have been an option because "the fund is investing for German investors in German projects".
He added that the KG had been used by Project Investment in the retail space for some time and proven its worth.
"With the new regulations the KG is given the supervisory framework important for institutional investors, as well as the control by a custodian – that is why we have chosen the KG over a German Spezialfonds," he said.
The fund, named Vier Metropolen (Four Metropolis), will be open for investor money from the autumn, as Project Investment can only file for a license for the new structure with the supervisory body BaFin from 22 July, once the KAGB has taken effect.
It will invest in project development for residential properties in large German cities.
