REC staff

Capital is targeting the €24bn of property in frozen and liquidating German open-ended funds, but the shrinking sector is struggling to dispose of assets at book value, reports Lauren Parr

With the Euro crisis spooking investors,  the volume of European deals has slowed markedly in the past few months. However, unlike the meltdown of 2008-09, the commercial real estate market has not frozen yet; at €129.5bn, deal volumes last year were 8% up on 2010. “Investors don’t like uncertainty and there’s no doubt that is […]

Regulatory and economic pressures make banks slow to decide 2012 targets, reports Lauren Parr

Schroders sees potential in property investment trusts to broaden offering, writes Jane Roberts

US private equity firm will take pick from package of Lehman property debt, writes James Wallace

Can a core fund be more highly geared than an opportunity fund? In the past, probably not. But the developments and distressed assets opportunity funds have bought – and the next generation expects to buyoften cannot get debt funding. But banks will still lend on core assets. One manager that runs opportunity and core strategies […]

Have you noticed how the adjective ‘toxic’ is no longer constantly paired with the noun ‘debt’? With so little new lending around, we’ve gone from being poisoned by the stuff to starving from lack of it. For a reminder of why debt was always toxic in 2008, see James Wallace’s article on Excalibur, the €3bn […]

Internos Real Investors has won a second mandate, from fund manager Invista REIM. Kaupthing Bank appointed Internos to manage the €90m Celsius portfolio and maximise value for bank shareholders after taking over the French assets from the original joint-venture partners, Invista and PropInvest. Internos has also taken on the six-strong French team that manages the […]

Iain Reid, who sold Protego Real Estate Investors to Cornerstone in 2010 along with co-managers Charles Weeks, Hugo Llewellyn and backer Smedvig Capital, will leave next month after a two-year lock-in period ends. Weeks has succeeded Reid as European CEO; Llewellyn left last year to set up Newcore Capital Management. Since buying Protego, US group […]

Aberdeen Asset Management has launched another pan-European fund of funds, with an €85m investment from the Employees Retirement System of Texas. Aberdeen’s head of property multi-manager, Jon Lekander, said the indirect mandate “is structured around a fund of funds that can also take in other capital. We have some potential interest, but it’s early days.” […]