Dutch asset manager Bouwinvest announced on Tuesday that its Dutch Residential and Retail Funds have received a total of €395 mln of new equity commitments from a range of investors in the first half of 2018.
New investors including the Dutch public transport pension fund (Pensioenfonds Vervoer) and the sector pension fund for the Dutch hospitality industry (Pensioenfonds Horeca & Catering) as well as the Elisabeth Strouven Fonds charitable foundation decided to invest in the funds, which manage assets of around €5.7 bn.
The €4.8 bn Dutch Residential Fund received the bulk of the commitments, or around €300 mln. The fund focuses on the liberalised rental markets of the major metropolitan areas in the Netherlands and achieved a total investment return of 15.6% in 2017.
The Retail Fund with €900 mln in assets under management generated a 7.8% return last year through investments in the largest and most popular shopping destinations, as well as convenience retail locations for day-to-day grocery needs.
Low risk and inflation hedge
'Our Dutch funds attracted new names in the first half of 2018, suggesting that the positive attributes of core-style real estate investments, such as consistent rental income returns, married with relatively low risk and an inflation hedge, are becoming more widely appreciated among domestic institutional investors,' said Allard van Spaandonk, CIO Dutch Investments at Bouwinvest.
'These investments also make a positive social impact, particularly for residential assets, as they are increasing rental housing supply to help relieve a shortage of homes in the major cities, and they are also developed to the highest modern sustainability standards.'
Bouwinvest’s new investors were advised by Sweco Capital Consultants, Corestone Investment Managers and Sprenkels & Verschuren.
