German asset manager IntReal said on Thursday that it grew its assets under administration (AuA) by 38% to €18.6 bn in 2017 and that it expects a similar increase in 2018.
The 2017 figure, encompassing a total of 114 funds, compared to €13.5 bn across 83 funds at year-end 2016.
'2017 was a very successful year for us and we continued to build on our position as a leading third-party AIFM,' said Michael Schneider, managing director of IntReal. 'I am very proud of these impressive results, particularly in view of the complex regulatory requirements that we had to implement with our fund partners during this period. In this context, I would like to mention the preparations for the German investment tax reform and MiFID II, both of which came into force at the start of the year.'
The group's Partner Funds business unit - which offers asset managers a platform for launching and administering regulated property investment funds - delivered the best performance, growing from €7.7 bn at the end of 2016 to €12.2 bn a year later.
Schneider says the rapid growth also presents challenges. 'Our top priority is to maintain our high quality standards. To this end, we made numerous additions to our workforce as planned in 2017. The number of employees went up by 72 – from 139 at the end of 2016 to 211 at the end of 2017. At the same time, we are investing heavily in training and development for our existing employees.'
Looking ahead, Michael Schneider believes the company will maintain the same pace of growth over the next 12 months. 'I expect to see growth on at least a comparable scale in the current year. I also anticipate growth and new funds in the area of open-ended mutual property AIFs. In this regard, we are in talks with various different companies that have signalled plans for new products.'
