Allianz Real Estate's investment in Asia is expected to top €500 mln 'within the next few weeks', CEO François Trausch told the the group's media roundtable briefing at EXPO REAL on Thursday.
'Our goal is to have a 5% allocation to Asia – or €2 bn plus – so we will have to find new ways to grow,' he said.
Allianz Real Estate has grown its real estate AUM, including its lending business, to €45.4 bn as of the end of August this year, of which €4 bn comprises new investments, Trausch said. New direct and indirect investments accounted for €2.1 bn. In addition, new European loans totalled €700 mln, with US loans accounting for €1.2 bn.
The group also wants to double its US allocation from 12% to 24% of its overall real estate portfolio by around 2020, Trausch said, noting that it is close to closing an office complex on the west coast of the US.
'We are still on track to grow our portfolio to €60 bn the end of 2019, although it`s a soft target because it depends on market conditions,' he said. 'We're going for longer maturity and yield and real estate allows us to do that.'
The group does not expect the Brexit to have a big impact on their business, Trausch said, because it has 'very little exposure' there.
'The natural way for us to start would be on the lending side,' he said.
However, it will not 'make any concessions on price or quality,' according to Roland Fuchs, head of European real estate lending at Allianz Real Estate. 'We haven't changed our strategy at all on the lending side there.'
