Awards and ratings

Union Investment and Sonae Sierra have received the European Innovation Award for Retail 2018 from the German Council of Shopping Centers for the First Store by Alexa competition – a “casting show” for retailers. According to the jury, the winners “have been able to position themselves in the start-up and newcomer scene as innovation partners in the retail space through this competition, thereby gaining a competitive advantage.”

Trade journal PropertyEU recognised Union Investment with the Deal of the Decade Award for the best portfolio deal of the past ten years. The Pegasus portfolio comprised 54 properties and was sold in 2007 for EUR 2.56 billion to Morgan Stanley and IVG Immobilien. Pegasus remains one of the largest portfolio transactions ever carried out in Germany. In explaining its decision, the jury stated that the deal was “an example of perfect timing and good organisation of a complex transaction.”

The coronavirus pandemic did not change Union Investment's real estate asset management quality. For the fourth year in a row, Scope awarded the highest possible rating "AAA (AMR)" (as at June 2021). Union Investment is hereby certified as having excellent asset management quality. Among other things, the excellent operational asset management is highlighted, which is again evident in the high letting rates among the mutual funds. The very high quality of systems and processes in asset management and risk control is another reason for the excellent assessment. In addition, according to Scope, Union Investment has a market-leading role in the further development of sustainability standards. The continuously developed "Manage to Green" strategy ensures the climate neutrality of the building stock in order to meet the Climate Protection Plan 2050. In the area of digitalization, Union Investment is regarded as an innovation driver. The digitization strategy was systematically developed further in the reporting period.The outstanding stability of the company and its investment products thanks to its integration into the Genossenschaftliche FinanzGruppe with its extensive sales network and short communication channels was also highlighted.

Open-ended real estate funds showed stability across the board last year, according to Scope's latest market study. However, the funds cannot completely escape the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The general economic crisis has also left its mark on our open-ended real estate funds for private and institutional investors, which is reflected in adjusted rating grades (as of June 2021).