Bouwinvest commits €100m to Hines core Europe fund

Bouwinvest has committed €100 million to Hines’ core pan-European fund, extending its real estate exposure to some of Europe’s largest cities.

The commitment from the Amsterdam-based real estate fund manager is part of its overall strategy to increase the international element of its real estate portfolio from 35 percent to 40 percent.

Last August, Bouwinvest said it planned to increase investments in third-party funds and listed property companies to boost the €2.7 billion global portfolio it manages on behalf of the Dutch Construction Workers Pension Fund, a fund with €54 billion of assets. The investment with Hines takes its commitment to European markets, outside of its domestic base, to more than €1 billion.

“Bouwinvest is increasing its allocation to international real estate markets to achieve greater risk diversification across geographies and cycles, while achieving optimal returns,” said Stephen Tross, managing director international investments at Bouwinvest.

“The investment with Hines reflects our confidence that their investment philosophy is closely aligned with Bouwinvest’s values and that they can achieve our core-style return targets.” 

The Hines Pan-European Core Fund has around €850 million of assets under management and is understood to provide a “stable annual return” of 4-4.5 percent for its investors. 

The open-ended fund has a low-risk profile and its capital is deployed into prime office and high street retail assets. Hines has already acquired properties from a range of major European cities including Berlin, Frankfurt, Paris, Dublin, London, Edinburgh, Barcelona, Madrid, Milan and Copenhagen.

In another example of its international investing, Bouwinvest committed €50 million to Stockholm-based real estate investment manager Genesta’s second investment vehicle last November. Genesta Nordic Real Estate Fund II has a fundraising target of €500 million-€600 million and an investment life of around eight years, the firm said at the time.