CBRE Global Investors co-forms Italian management platform

Los Angeles-based CBRE Global Investors announced today it had formed an Italian regulated real estate funds business in partnership with Italian real estate investment management company Fabrica Immobiliare with a view to offering Italy’s institutional investors bespoke investment vehicles.

The vehicles will be initially for Italian property but could later be used to make investments in Northern European markets including the UK, France and Germany.

Florencio Beccar, CBRE Global Investors’ country manager for Italy, told PERE the vehicles would be similar in structure to separate account mandates and would typically target core investments with a view to holding them for the long-term, as long as 20 years in certain experience. Investments are expected to be €20 million minimum and return between 6 percent and 8 percent.

The joint venture is already bidding to win a mandate contesting to invest and manage €1 billion on behalf of one Italian institution, and could hear whether it has been successful before the end of the year. 

That aside, Beccar said the firm’s internal target was to raise about €150 million over the coming four months and between €400 million and €500 million over three years.

In certain instances, Fabrica Immobiliare could inject some of its assets into these vehicles as seed properties. CBRE Global Investors manages €1.6 billion of assets in Italy however these properties are not available for this platform.

Fabrica Immobiliare will act as the vehicles’ manager while CBRE Global Investors will act as the advisor for the non-Italian asset allocation strategy and for investment selection and asset management.

Beccar said: “We have some very rich pension plans in Italy and these pension plans are starting to wake up to the fact they need to invest in real estate and that when they have invested in real estate in the past it maybe has not been done so professionally. So they’re starting to come to the market with beauty parades through which they can create portfolios with managers to manage them more professionally.”

Beccar said the partners would be embarking on a road show to share their platform with potential investors in the New Year. He said: “The idea is to raise substantial money through this channel,” he said, “We’re hoping to raise about €150 million of equity in the first four months and then between €400 million and €500 million in the three year’s time. But there’s no minimum prerequisite.”

Los Angeles-based CBRR Global Investors is the world’s largest real estate investment management firm with $90.4 billion of assets under management.