Eurazeo, the Paris-listed global investment firm, is marketing a property fund to private investors.
The company’s move to launch European Real Estate II ELTIF is significant given changes to the European Long-Term Investment Fund (ELTIF) regulations designed to encourage greater interest among managers for the regime.
Experts such as fund advisor, Ogier, explained earlier this year that ELTIFs were introduced as far back as 2015 to support large debt and equity investments in non-listed European businesses, qualifying as it does as an alternative investment fund allowing professional and retail investors across the European Union to invest in companies and projects that need long-term, stable capital.
But since 2015, they have not been considered a success with only 57 ELTIFs registered as of December 2021.However, a new raft of changes to the regime are designed to make them more attractive.
They include an enlargement of the scope of eligible assets and investments and a reduction of some limitations.
Eurazeo did not make mention of such changes in its announcement. It said whilst the unlisted real estate market had typically been reserved for institutional investors, its new fund facilitated entry for individuals
‘This fund offers individual investors a distinctive investment strategy in the real-estate sector, along with diversification in a growing asset class, that is known for demonstrating low correlation with financial markets and delivering superior returns in the long run.’
The fund will operate side-by-side with a €1 bn investment program whereby Eurazeo and institutional investors directly invest. EERE II will take a share of each investment made by the group’s real assets team.
Agathe Bubbe, manager private wealth solutions, said: ‘Buoyed by the success of our various investment vehicles through which we make our institutional strategies available to individual investors, today we are launching European Real Estate II ELTIF.’
‘With this new program, Eurazeo takes a step further to make its investment strategies accessible to individual investors, and provide clients with solutions intended to diversify their investments in ways that support the real economy.’
Renaud Haberkorn, managing partner of real assets, explained: ‘This new fund for individual investors will channel the savings of French people towards providing long-term funding for companies through direct investments in the French and European real-estate sector. We see the fund as an opportunity to create value and distinguish ourselves in the eyes of individual investors.’
