Invesco teams up with France's Ciloger in fund JV

Investment manager Invesco Real Estate and French fund manager Ciloger have formed a partnership to launch a new range of pooled real estate investment vehicles known as OPCI (Organisme de Placement Collectif Immobilier).

Ciloger was the first fund manager in France to transform an existing fund into an OPCI, as well as the first to receive approval for OPCI's for retail investor. 'The partnership with Invesco Real Estate will take this one step further and paves the way for French investors to gain broader access to the pan-European property markets,' the company said in a statement.

Invesco RE will act as an adviser for sourcing property investment opportunities within the funds' strategies, monitoring existing investments, asset management, debt strategies and structuring and providing investment advice for the non-French real estate in Ciloger's funds. The two companies will work closely on the distribution of these funds to both retail and institutional investors. The partnership starts with their existing OPCI fund, which is currently being marketed to investors.

Invesco will also be taking on the investment adviser role for the pan-European ex-France portion of Ciloger's existing property funds (SCPI) and expects to make the first investments over the next couple of months.

Simon Redman, head of Business Development at Invesco RE said: 'This is a key partnership for both companies and more importantly for French investors who will be able to access opportunities in real estate not only on a pan-European basis but also globally. We have the global platform and expertise in place to enable us to work with a forward-thinking organisation like Ciloger to open up diversified investments for the French market.'

'With six OPCI's under management, Ciloger leads the French new OPCIs real estate fund market; this partnership increases both companies' market share,' said managing director at Ciloger, Laurent Fléchet.