#PROVADA Dutch insurer NN to invest up to €750m in property loans

Insurer Nationale Nederlanden (NN) is to invest up to €750 mln in a portfolio of commercial real estate loans issued by ING Real Estate Finance.

Nationale Nederlanden will initially invest €400 mln in Dutch loans with a second tranche of €300 mln earmarked for loans issued against foreign property.

The move makes the Dutch insurer one of the first local players to ‘discover’ property financing as an investment category since the financial crisis. As the risks associated with property financing subside and banks grapple with funding issues, many non-bank players believe now is the time to enter the market.

´All insurers are hunting for yield, an extra return, a premium for lack of liquidity for a long-term investor such as ourselves,’ Jelle van der Giessen, CIO of NN Group, told PropertyEU. ‘That’s why we have closed a deal with ING REF under which we will take over more than €400 mln in loans as an investment. With this move we want to create a new asset class.’

ING REF has around €25 bn in commercial real estate loans worldwide, making it the biggest Dutch property financier and one of the biggest in Europe. ‘I think this deal is the first step on the road to mobilising more institutional money for the Dutch property market, in line with what business and government have been calling for,’ said Peter Göbel, CEO of ING Real Estate Finance.