Asset managers are strengthening their foothold in the real estate investment sector, PropertyNL’s research has shown. Nine Dutch-based asset managers directly or indirectly manage almost € 92 billion in real estate assets in the Netherlands and abroad. Pension funds are still the major clients of asset managers, but the importanceof their services for private investors is clearly growing. Gepubliceerd in PropertyNLMagazine Nr. 4 - 10 Maart 2008
Asset managers are strengthening their foothold in the real estate investment sector, PropertyNL’s research has shown. Nine Dutch-based asset managers directly or indirectly manage almost € 92 billion in real estate assets in the Netherlands and abroad. Pension funds are still the major clients of asset managers, but the importanceof their services for private investors is clearly growing.
Gepubliceerd in PropertyNLMagazine Nr. 4 - 10 Maart 2008
1 ING REIM
Total investment (in € mln) 65.578
ING REIM, asset manager: ING REIM is
the world’s largest asset manager in the
field of real estate. International research
by PropertyEU has shown that the gap to
the numbers two and three in the world
(Morgan Stanley and Prudential Real
Estate) is rapidly widening.The reason for
this is that ING REIM’s home market encompasses
three continents: Europe (via
ING), United States (via Clarion among
others) and Australia, where CEO David
Blight comes from. Another reason for
the rapid growth is that the insurance arm
generates a steady flow of equity capital,
while most of its major global competitors
are banks. Parties such as Morgan Stanley,
Deutsche Bank/Rreef, UBS and JP Morgan
all have to raise money on the capital
markets. Of the € 65.6 billion, ING REIM
generates 36% in Europe (with 10% from
the Dutch funds that are also included in
the list), 54% in the US and Canada and
the remaining 10% in the Asia region, including
Australia.
2 ABP
Total investment (in € mln) 26.379
ABP, pension fund: Investments in Vesteda
(€ 1,593 billion), Corio (€ 1,509 billion),
Rodamco Europe (€ 1,015 billion) and KFN
(€ 834 million) have traditionally been the
public sector pension fund’s principal real
estate investments. In its most recent strategic
investment plan, for 2007-2009, it
reduced its weighting in real estate (‘property
& real estate funds’) from 10.7% to
9% in favour of the new investment category,
Infrastructure, for which a weighting
of 2.0% is planned. The regional allocation
of ABP’s property investments is €
6.4 billion in the Netherlands, € 7.0 billion
in the rest of Europe, € 10.4 billion in the
US and Canada and € 2.6 billion in the
other regions. The high return of almost
36% is due mainly to the investments in
listed real estate funds, which have appreciated
sharply.
3 PGGM
Total investment (in € mln) 10.796
PGGM, pension fund: The country’s second-
largest pension fund intended to increase
the weighting for real estate from
13.0% to 15.0% in 2007 [did it?]. The rapid
appreciation in the value of its real estate
investments means that PGGM will quickly
achieve its goal. At the end of 2006, the
actual weighting was 13.5%. In 2006, the
real estate also produced the highest return
(29.4%) of any investment category. The
distribution of the investments is 55% in
Europe, 30% in the US and 15% in the Far
East. Retail properties account for 48% of
the total portfolio, followed by residential
properties with 26.0%, offices with 19%
and logistics with 7%. The strategic portfolio
– valued at net asset value – is invested
for € 5.3 billion in listed real estate finds
and for € 4.5 in non-listed funds. PGGM
also has a tactical portfolio amounting to €
1.0 billion.
4 Rodamco Europe
Total investment (in € mln) 10.589
Rodamco Europe, listed fund: Rodamco
merged with Unibail in 2007. The new
combination has a total portfolio of approximately
€ 21 billion. The merged undertaking
has a main listing on Euronext
Paris. Rodamco’s CEO Maarten Hulshoff
has handed over control of the new company
to Unibail’s chairman Poitrinal. The
head office will be in the Netherlands. In
2006, approximately 89% of the portfolio
was invested in retail properties, while
Rodamco also owns some office buildings
and industrial properties. The Netherlands
and Belgium account for 35% of the portfolio.
Rodamco is active in 15 countries in
all. Its largest shareholders in 2006 were
PGGM (24.5%), ABP (11.6%) and Aegon
(5.6%).
5 Achmea Vastgoed
Total investment (in € mln) 8.531
Achmea Vastgoed: Achmea Vastgoed will appear
high on the top-ten list as asset manager
next year following the merger of Interpolis
Vastgoed and the ‘former’ Achmea Vastgoed
at the beginning of 2007. The new group manages
€ 12.3 billion in real estate investments
and mortgages for 48 institutional clients,
including the large pension funds for the
agriculture, architecture and transport sectors.
What role Rabobank wil play via its subsidiary
Interpolis will have to emerge more
clearly. For the 2006 list Achmea Vastgoed
is still reported separately from Interpolis
Vastgoed. It provides services for 36 pension
funds for whom it manages real estate with a
discretionary mandate or via separate funds,
some of which appear in the list.
6 ING Group
Total investment (in € mln) 6.974
ING Group, banking and insurance: This
figure relates to the item real estate investments
in the consolidated annual financial
statements which are not managed in the
ING RE funds. Approximately 53% of the
total is accounted for by the banking activities,
the rest by the insurance division (policyholders).
7 Redevco
Total investment (in € mln) 6.800
Redevco, private investment company: The
fund is wholly owned by Cofra, the Swiss
holding company of the Breninkmeijer family.
The fund is heavily weighted towards
retail, but also invests in offices. Redevco
is active in 14 countries and is now also
focusing on Poland, Ukraine, Greece and
Turkey. Redevco was a net seller in 2006
and profited from the sharply higher prices
in the retail market. It sold assets for
a total of € 950 million and bought properties
for ‘only’ € 360 million. Redevco’s
target is a total invested capital of € 10 billion
by 2010.
8 Fortis
Total investment (in € mln) 6.621
Fortis, bank and insurance. The banking
business holds € 3.0 billion in real estate investments
for its own account and approximately
€ 3.6 billion in investments for the
unit-linked contracts of the Fortis insurance
business. The responsible division is Fortis
Vastgoed, which consists of the divisions
Real Estate, Developments and Land [according
to the website the divisions are Ontwikkelingen,
Vermogensbeheer and Landelijk).
The latter division owns almost 30,000 hectares
of land, making Fortis the large private
land-owner in the Netherlands. With the acquisition
of parts of the Netherlands’ largest
international bank, ABN Amro, in 2007 it
will quickly grow in importance.
9 BPF Bouw
Total investment (in € mln) 5.718
BPF Bouw, pension fund. One of the few
pension funds with its own development
and investment business for real estate, BPF
Bouwinvest. The total return on the Dutch
portfolio rose from 9.0% in 2005 to 12.9%
in 2006. The indirect return increased very
sharply, from 4.5% in 2005 to 8.3% in 2006.
The residential properties were principally
responsible for this. The portfolio contained
20,000 residential properties, 300,000 m2
of office space and roughly 155,000 2 of retail
space at the end of 2006.
10 Corio
Total investment (in € mln) 5.459
Corio, listed fund: The fund focuses on retail
properties with more than 80% of the portfolio
invested in that category. The investments
in the Netherlands account for approximately
40% of the portfolio. Other key countries
are France, Italy, Spain and Turkey. In 2006
Corio bought properties worth € 226 million
and sold for € 45 million. Pension fund ABP
is the major shareholder with approximately
36.5%. Top man Jan de Kreij will be succeeded
this year by Gerard Groener.
