BlackRock's real estate team has launched the Merrill Lynch (ML) European Property Fund of Funds, which will invest in unlisted and diversified property vehicles across Europe.
BlackRock's real estate team has launched the Merrill Lynch (ML) European Property Fund of Funds, which will invest in unlisted and diversified property vehicles across Europe.
The European Property Fund of Funds will be an open ended euro-denominated vehicle and will be managed by Matthew Ryall. The fund is intended to complement the successful UK Property Fund of Funds which was launched in 2004.
The fund will provide clients with access to the best property managers across continental Europe, Ryall commented. He added that the initial investment focus will be on those markets which BlackRock regards as being relatively undervalued and which have good growth prospects. Those markets include Scandinavia, provincial France, western Germany and parts of southern Europe, he said.
'We will be limiting our exposure to many parts of Central Eastern Europe, where we believe that current pricing levels are not supported by growth prospects,' Ryall commented. The New York-based investment management firm BlackRock merged with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers earlier this year.
