All articles by Richard Lowe – Page 81
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BVV PK places real estate activity on ice
GERMANY – The €21bn BVV Pensionskasse for banks has decided it will make no new real estate commitments for the next 12 months, but expects to increase its long-term allocation to the asset class in the future.
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Currency swing stifles positive return on institutional funds
EUROPE – Institutional European real estate funds on average delivered a negative euro-denominated return of -1.6% in 2009. But there was a huge variance of investment performance among funds over the 12-month period, according to Investment Property Databank (IPD).
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Unilever’s Progress nears end of direct real estate divestment
NETHERLANDS – CB Richard Ellis is in negotiations with an unnamed investor to exchange on the remaining assets of the domestic real estate portfolio of Progress, the Dutch pension fund of Unilever.
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Investors to decide gearing on L&G’s property income
UK – European institutional investors that have committed to Legal & General Property’s (LGP) new UK core fund have been given a choice over the level of gearing they will be exposed to.
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Rothschild Realty sees fresh prospects for US housing
UNITED STATES - Rothschild Realty Managers has made a $100m (€74.9m) equity investment with Summit Housing Partners based in Montgomery, Alabama, on the back of renewed confidence in the housing market.
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CalPERS wins right to vote on REIT board
UNITED STATES – California Public Employees Retirement Systems (CalPERS) has won support from fellow shareholders to introduce annual board elections at a specialist hotel real estate investment trust (REIT).
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Ireland’s NAMA takes on property-backed 'bad bank' loans
IRELAND – The Irish government has confirmed its National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), or so-called ‘bad bank’, has started to take €16bn worth of troubled real estate loans on to its books.
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Royal Mail Pension ends 27-year run for real estate manager
UK – LaSalle Investment Management is to take over the management of the Royal Mail Pension Plan’s (RMPP) £1.6bn (€1.8bn) UK real estate portfolio, which has been run by Hermes since 1995 and under its previous incarnation PosTel since 1983.
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Pension funds maintain German real estate security
GERMANY – Total returns for German real estate declined for the second consecutive year, but pension funds in the country have continued to focus heavily on their domestic market because it “feels safer”, according to a leading pension fund manager.
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Ediston sees fresh activity after market downturn
UK – The Ediston Opportunity Fund, which raised capital from pension funds in 2007, has made a number of investments following more than two years of inactivity and is consulting investors on raising more capital.
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Norwegian pension fund snaps up new office
NORWAY – Akershus Fylkeskommunale Pensjonskasse (AFKP), a local authority pension fund for the employees of the municipality adjacent to the north and west of Oslo, has acquired a newly-developed office building in Drammen.
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Experts warn property derivative market could stagnate
GLOBAL – The head of property derivatives at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) - the UK bank which executed Prupim’s £100m (€111m) total return swap deal last year - has warned the nascent sector will not survive unless more real estate investors become more engaged.
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UK REITs’ cash position strengthened
UK – Real estate investment trusts in the UK will be able to issue stock dividends in lieu of cash dividends if the current government remains in power after the next general election. UK chancellor Alistair Darling made the announcement in his pre-election Budget on Wednesday following lobbying pressure from ...
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BRIC-built recovery expected - JLL
GLOBAL – The BRIC countries will lead the global real estate market recovery as their economic expansion boosts occupier demand across all sectors and cross-border investment returns, according to Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).
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Value emerging in industrials - Hansteen
UK – European industrial real estate investment trust (REIT) Hansteen has purchased an industrial estate and is in due diligence on three others for its new UK fund backed by institutional investors.
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Investors seek Nordic expansion
GERMANY/NORDICS – Institutional investors in Germany have asked Schroders to increase the size of their fully invested Nordic fund and given permission to the fund manager to raise additional equity from new investors.
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APG and Corio to invest €1.3bn in European retail
EUROPE – Pension fund asset manager APG has agreed to help listed real estate company Corio raise enough capital to acquire more than €1.3bn worth of retail assets in Europe.
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Aviva's AIPL investments near €290m
UK – Aviva Investors has acquired more than £260m (€289m) of UK real estate over the last six months for its AIPL vehicle, a low-risk real estate fund for institutional corporate and local authority pension schemes.
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Investor strategy prompts IVG Spezialfonds rethink
GERMANY – IVG Immobilien, Germany's largest provider of institutional open-ended real estate funds, is to dissolve three of its Spezialfonds, which together hold approximately €2bn in real estate assets.
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West Midlands bags UK shopping centre
UK – Property company and fund manager Delancey has sold a UK shopping centre for more than £70m (€78m) to the West Midlands Pension Fund.
