International real estate firm Hines has announced it is launching Hines European Property Partners (HEPP), its new diversified, open-ended core-plus fund focused on key European markets. Jorge Duarte, who joins Hines from Barings, has been appointed as fund manager.
HEPP will seek to acquire and develop sustainable assets across a range of sectors including logistics, office, living – residential, student and senior housing across Europe's leading cities.
The fund will launch later this year and aims to attract €1 bn in investor equity to the strategy in the first 12 months from launch. The strategy will seek to maximise value at the asset-level through active management while undertaking select developments to create next-generation product to hold.
Alex Knapp, chief investment officer for Europe, at Hines, commented: 'The success of HUSPP and HAPP indicates the global appetite for diversified and open-ended funds capable of data-driven, cross-sector investment and value creation.
'HEPP will add to this family of funds, while benefiting from Hines’ established sector-leading credentials in ESG focused European development and investment through our Core and Value Funds. Our European team of more than 650 people, with 16 local offices is well positioned to provide excellent deal pipeline along with the very best in execution quality.'
Jorge Duarte, who has been appointed fund manager of HEPP, brings to Hines two decades of experience in investment management and fund analysis.
Duarte joins Hines from Barings, where he worked for over six years, most recently as managing director and head of core investing in Europe.
He spent an additional five years at AXA IM Real Assets, where he worked as fund manager of a pan-European value-add fund, and a further three years as country manager – Southern Europe at Howard Holdings.
Duarte said: 'After spending more than 20 years in portfolio analysis and fund management, the opportunity to work alongside real estate specialists to establish a dynamic new vehicle in Europe drew me to Hines.
'The firm’s boots-on-the-ground approach, deep sector and technical expertise, and access to global capital is impressive and provides a strong platform to create another unique and high-quality vehicle for real estate investment in Europe.'
HEPP will sit alongside its global sister funds, Hines UU Property Partners (HUSPP) and Hines Asia Property Partners (HAPP). HUSPP and HAPP, both of which launched in 2021, have already secured c$2.5 billion in combined commitments.
It will also complement Hines existing European funds, the Hines European Core Fund (HECF) and the Hines European Value Fund (HEVF) series, according to the firm. Both HECF and Hines European Value Fund 2 (HEVF 2) have market-leading ESG credentials as recognised by GRESB, each with long track records of delivering strong returns for clients.
