HERMANN AUKAMP

Hermann Aukamp has been one of the leading investors for German pension funds investing internationally. His long, successful experience investing and developing property in Germany allows him to discern the good from the bad when it comes to oversees property managers. The occupational pension fund for the North Rhine medical association has around €9 billion ($14.3 billion) of assets under management, with €1.2 billion allocated to real estate, or 14.4 percent. Around €800 million is invested in 15 funds. Its focus is on value-added and opportunistic strategies. The fund has invested in funds managed by Warburg Pincus, Henderson Global Investors and MEAG Real Estate Management. Earlier this year, it said good returns from real estate had enabled it to consider expanding its investment to other alternatives such as infrastructure funds. Aukump rubs shoulders with powerful European industry figures by participation on various company supervisory and investment committee boards, for example he shares a position on the supervisory board of Frankfurt-based Deutsche Immobilien Chancen (DIC) with John Carrafiell, global co-head of real estate, at Morgan Stanley, which is a shareholder in DIC.