Germany’s largest pension fund Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK) is giving Blue Asset Management up to €250m to invest in Austrian retail property.
Eight retail properties on long leases and covering 70,000sqm of rentable space have already been acquired for an undisclosed sum.
Blue Asset Management will focus on retail parks in established locations and other properties that provide basic services for their catchment areas.
As well as retail parks, Blue Asset Management will invest in city centres, specialist stores, city markets, convenience stores in city districts and local supply centres.
The mandate has been structured as a fund and will be administered by Universal-Investment on its alternative investment funds platform in Luxembourg.
BVK has awarded a number of market and sector-specific real estate strategies in recent years as it diversifies its exposure. Most recently, it hired USAA Real Estate Company to invest in US multifamily markets.
