Allianz Real Estate, which invested €50 bn last year on behalf of the parent group’s insurance companies, is becoming decidedly more adventurous in its choices, CEO Francois Trausch told PropertyEU in an interview at Mipim in March.
The company is pursuing changes in the type, style, sector and location of investments. ‘We are driving diversification a bit harder,’ said Trausch (pictured), who took up his role in January 2016. ‘Traditionally we have been office investors, but now we are investing in retail and we are also set to invest in logistics, which is the other side of the retail coin.’
The low-yield environment is also pushing Allianz to look beyond the cosy safe haven of core investments. ‘We have always been core investors but now we are living in a yield-hungry world, so we are complementing our core strategy with investments, usually in other people’s funds, doing value-add or opportunistic on a regional or a global basis,’ Trausch said. ‘We have a defensive portfolio, but we do try to take advantage of the growth pockets we see either geographically or product-wise.’
US and Asia
Geographical diversification is also playing a part. ‘Historically we have been mainly invested in Europe, but we are now pushing into the US and Asia, and this diversification in other markets will continue. We are investing in retail in China and the US, for example.’
Underpinning Allianz’s strategy is a firm belief in the positive outlook for real estate, Trausch said: ‘We see that there is good demand and limited supply, and this is pushing us to continue to invest. We look at markets from a global perspective and the picture is pretty good. There is growth in all the continents where we have a presence, and even in Europe growth is over 1% in all 27 countries. The fundamentals are very sound.’
