The 2014 edition of PropertyEU's Top 100 Investors drills deeper into the capital sources of the 200 players we have surveyed.

The 2014 edition of PropertyEU's Top 100 Investors drills deeper into the capital sources of the 200 players we have surveyed.

INSURERS
AXA Real Estate heads our ranking of the biggest real estate managers affiliated to insurance companies in Europe as well as our overall ranking. Italian insurer Generali ranks as a French contender in our ranking as the real estate arm headed by Christian Delaire is headquartered in Paris.

The UK has also spawned a strong contingent albeit that the biggest home-grown player Aviva Investors again booked a decline this year. All in all, however, the UK investment managers affiliated to insurers are set to rise in our ranking after announcing plans to pour ‘billions’ into European real estate.

London-based Cornerstone – a subsidiary of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) – failed to make it into our ranking, but its takeover of German asset manager Pamera earlier this year has put on it a stronger footing in the leading real estate market in mainland Europe where it has now added €1 bn of German real estate to its assets. The move comes just four years after the firm set up a base in Europe through the acquisition of UK-based Protego.

FINANCIALS
Continental European players head our ranking of real estate managers affiliated to financial groups with Credit Suisse in the top position. The German banks are also well represented through their open-ended fund managers. The big three remain Deka Immobilien, Union Investment Real Estate and Commerz Real which all rose in the ranking this year while Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management and SEB Asset Management both saw a decline. France also spawned a strong contingent headed by AEW Europe and BNP Paribas Real Estate with La Française Real Estate Managers some distance behind. Our ranking excludes NAMA and Sareb, the ‘bad banks’ for Ireland and Spain respectively which are among the biggest owners of real estate since the crisis.

PENSION FUNDS
The Netherlands is well-represented in our overview of the biggest real estate asset managers and property companies affiliated to pension funds, accounting for no less than half of the players in the ranking.

BROKERS
CBRE Global Investors dropped again this year after a selling binge in the past 24 months, but the company is due to become a net buyer in 2014. Cushman & Wakefield Investors disappeared from the ranking this year following its takeover by La Française Real Estate Managers.

LISTED INVESTMENT MANAGERS
Aberdeen Asset Management is due to surge in our ranking for 2014 after boosting its assets under management in Europe to €27.8 bn at end-June 2014 following the integration of SWIP earlier this year. TIAA Henderson Real Estate is also poised to make a big leap this year after the London-based alliance between US-based TIAA-CREF and Henderson Global Investors was officially launched on 1 April 2014.

The London-based company has seen its assets under management soar by more than 40% since 2011. New York-listed Blackstone ranks as the biggest winner of our ranking over 2013 its larger US peer BlackRock. Both companies saw their assets under management in Europe mushroom by more than 100% year-on-year in 2013, according to our estimates.

EUROPEAN PRIVATE EQUITY
Hamburg-based ECE heads our list of privately held investment managers. In recent years, the retail developer and property manager owned by the Otto family has entered into fund management and created alliances with leading global investors.

US PRIVATE EQUITY
The US players in our ranking for which we received a full overview all booked a rise in their assets under management in Europe in the year to end-2013.

LISTED PROPERTY COMPANIES
A trio of French players heads our ranking of the biggest listed real estate companies in Europe following the disappearance of Germany’s IVG which was declared bankrupt last year. The composition of the French trio is due to change in the coming months once Klépierre’s takeover of its Duch peer is approved. The move will boost the Paris-listed retail specialist’s AUM to €21 bn.

The UK contingent in our ranking is also strong, with British Land and Land Securities securing a position in the top 5. Patrizia Immobilien now ranks as the biggest German contender while the other German listed companies in our ranking such as Deutsche Annington and Deutsche Wohnen focus primarily on their home market.

Also, get the latest market intelligence at PropertyEU's Asset Management Investment Briefing hosted at Expo Real in Munch (Monday 6 October 17.00 - 17.50