Global investment manager Nuveen Real Estate has completed the first close of its fourth debt strategy in the European commercial real estate debt series, having secured some €150 mln in initial commitments.
Several German institutional investors have committed to the first close, joined by Nuveen’s parent company, TIAA. The strategy is targeting a total capital raise of €500 mln.
The launch represents Nuveen’s first pan-European debt strategy in the series, with the previous three iterations of the series being UK-focussed.
Christian Janssen, head of commercial real estate debt, Europe, at Nuveen Real Estate, said: 'Since the global financial crisis, the European real estate debt market has changed significantly.
'The retrenchment of traditional bank lenders and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic has created a significant opportunity for non-bank lenders to enter the European real estate debt market and grow its market share.
'As such we believe European commercial real estate debt can offer investors attractive risk-adjusted returns relative to fixed income investments and potential down-side risk mitigation.'
The strategy has been designed to provide a solution for institutional investors. The success of this first close and the expansion to a pan-European strategy follows the origination of over €6.5 bn in new loans by Nuveen Real Estate’s European debt team, secured against a wide-range of asset classes including logistics, residential, life sciences and offices.
The firm’s global debt platform, which has been investing since 1934, has grown significantly in recent years and is active across the US, Europe and APAC, with over €38 bn of capital invested globally on behalf of a range of pooled funds and separate mandates from a global client list.
