Asset manager Algebris Investments said it has raised €370 mln from institutional investors and family offices for a new fund focusing on Italian non-performing loans.
Asset manager Algebris Investments said it has raised €370 mln from institutional investors and family offices for a new fund focusing on Italian non-performing loans.
The vehicle, known as Algebris NPL Fund I, will be registered in Luxembourg and target non-perfoming and sub-perfoming loans as well as a portfolio of loans owned by the country's financial industry.
Algebris, which is set to open an office in Milan headed by Massimiliano Bertolino and Alberto Iori, said the main focus will be on loans backed by real estate assets, which currently represent around 40% of the total NPLs in the country, amounting to almost €170 bn.
The vehicle is targeting a total of €400 mln with final closing planned for the end of April 2015. It has a life term of four years and is targeting returns of between 15% and 18% a year.
‘We believe that Italy will become one of Europe’s most dynamic investment markets in terms of NPLs, particularly in light of the results of the AQR and the stress test,’ commented Davide Serra, founder and CEO of Algebris Investments.
In total, Serra expects over €40 bn worth of commercial real estate non-performing loans to change hands in Italy over the coming years. ‘We anticipate that a number of Italian lenders will try to accelerate the clean-up of their balance sheets,’ he noted.
Massimiliano Bertolino, who will run the Italian office together with Albero Iori, has over 20 years of experience in the debt and real estate sector, having previously headed the NPL division of Pirelli Real Estate. He is also the founder and CEO of Fare NPL which currently manages over €1.5 bn of assets.
Algebris currently operates from offices in London, Singapore and Boston and has around £2.5 bn of assets under management.
