Italian insurance giant Generali is looking to invest up to EUR 300 mln in the Italian market this year as part of plans to increase the weight of its real estate exposure.

Italian insurance giant Generali is looking to invest up to EUR 300 mln in the Italian market this year as part of plans to increase the weight of its real estate exposure.

'We are searching for acquisitions because we think that the real estate asset class is very interesting at this time compared to bonds and stocks, mostly due to its reduced volatility,' Giovanni Paviera, head of Generali's Italian asset management arm told PropertyEU.

The group is planning to boost its exposure to property in the next three years from 6% at present to around 9%, with a view to expanding in new markets such as the US and Asia. This week, the insurance giant emerged as the buyer of part of Lamaro's stake in the Citylife mixed-use development, Milan's largest city-centre regeneration project.

Generali is investing around EUR 30 mln in the acquisition of a 13.4% stake, which will raise its interest to 40%. Germany's Allianz Real Estate is taking over a further 6.7% from Lamaro, bringing its total stake to 33.3%.

Paviera: 'We continue to look at what is on the market, but the investment sector is quite static at the moment. We are focusing on office properties in Rome and Milan, mostly newly-developed buildings rented out to good-quality tenants.'

In 2010, Generali Immobiliare Sgr, with EUR 2 bn of Italian assets under management, will focus on the active management of its real estate assets as well as on the redevelopment of a 100,000 m2 office portfolio into 600 residential apartments. 'Next to looking at new investments, we will target asset sales in secondary locations for EUR 200 mln,' he said, adding that the company has already realised 75% of its disposal target for this year.

The company intends to continue to operate through real estate funds which, according to Paviera, offer increased flexibility with regard to asset allocation and repayment options.