Our solutions for institutional investors

Responsible investment is the main fiduciary duty of an asset manager towards investors. Given the current political environment, with continued low interest rates and many real estate markets in a late stage of the cycle, a forward-looking strategy is key.

Our long-standing expertise
 

€ 20.6 billion

Amount invested in our institutional real estate solutions

Union Investment has been active in the institutional real estate sector since 1977. Our customers have benefited throughout from our deep expertise and management skill in the various real estate markets. Choosing Union Investment means choosing the professionalism, outstanding client focus and strong solution-orientation of one of Europe's leading asset managers.

Assets under management in institutional real estate solutions total EUR 20.6 bilion, split between actively managed funds (around EUR 10.5 billion) and Service KVG mandates (around EUR 10.1 billion). Our 40 institutional real estate funds and other vehicles together hold 553 properties.

Business segments

We provide tailored real estate product solutions and modular service packages compliant with either German or Luxembourg law, ranging from broadly diversified funds to purely administrative vehicles:

Feest en Cultuurpaleis

Funds

Open-ended and closed-ended real estate funds for institutional investors.

Individual mandates

Tailored solutions

Individual mandates, club deals and joint ventures for institutional Investors.

Service KVG mandates

Service KVG mandates

Administrative services in conjunction with third-party asset managers.

Our expertise

We are committed to fulfilling the varying requirements of institutional clients and leveraging our expertise to ensure that both individual client wishes and regulatory requirements are met. The starting point is always a personal discussion with the investor.

Property types

ATMOS, Munich

Offices

We focus on office properties in excellent locations and with high construction quality, but our acquisition planning also includes real estate in secondary locations, subject to meeting our criteria.

Alexa, Berlin

Retail

As one of the largest property holders in our peer group, we have the whole spectrum of retail properties worldwide in our sights, from retail/commercial buildings and retail parks through to shopping centres.

Radisson Blue, London Stansted

Hotels

We have been investing in hotels for over 40 years. Today, our broadly diversified hotel portfolio makes us one of the leading European investment managers for hotel real estate. We are among the largest holders of hotels in our peer group.

Amazon, Bad Hersfeld

Logistics

Excellent locations, good alternative use options and long-term rental income make logistics properties attractive, which is why we include them in our portfolios.

Residential

Residential

We have added another attractive use type in recent years, namely residential property. Within this category, we focus on apartments, student accommodation and micro apartments.

Formats & vehicles

From standard solutions to tailored structuring requirements, our product landscape comprises open-ended and closed-ended vehicles under German or Luxembourg law for one or more investors (e.g. limited partnerships (Investment KG), special AIFs, SICAV-SIFs).

Alongside traditional regulated funds, we also offer more recent structures, such as the Luxembourg Reserved Alternative Investment Fund (RAIF). As an institutional client, you benefit from our high level of structuring expertise and long experience of regulatory matters.

Processes

As one of the largest and oldest investment management companies in the real estate segment, our competitive advantage lies in the quality of our systems and processes across all areas of real estate management, fund management and risk management. This includes the following interfaces and processes:

  • in real estate management: in particular the acquisition and sale process, asset management, property management and project management of development projects
  • in fund management: performance management, liquidity management and planning, portfolio analysis and fund monitoring
  • in risk management: ongoing checking and monitoring of a fund’s main parameters

Fund management

The fund management team bears overall responsibility for fulfilling our product promise and for fund performance. To this end, alongside its operational and strategic functions, fund management also makes content decisions in conjunction with the respective departments.

The core fund management processes are:

  • Determining the fund strategy and risk strategy
  • Managing fund planning
  • Fund and risk management
  • Fund reporting (internal, legal and investor reporting) 
Graphic Overarching fund management

Investment management

As the so-called “deal captain”, the investment management team drives the transaction process. It is responsible for sourcing real estate in accordance with fund management requirements, it forms the interface to the individual departments and decision-making bodies and is in charge of delivering acquisitions. The following core strengths help to ensure strong execution:

  • Excellent relationships with the key developers and property holders in the real estate industry, established over many years
  • Deep market penetration and off-market opportunities due to market position as a substantial property holder
  • As one of the most active real estate managers in the market, we have a steady deal flow
  • We benefit from our reputation as a professional and reliable transaction partner
  • We are valued as an active asset manager that focuses on core/core-plus investments with commercially sustainable product quality

Asset management

Management of our property holdings is the responsibility of the asset management team, which is organised by country, region and sector. Asset management involves active management across the entire investment cycle of the individual property. This includes:

  • Strategic alignment of the individual asset (short, medium and long term; exit strategy)
  • Direct contact with the tenant through active lettings management
  • Managing the external property manager (commercial building management, rent collection and invoicing)
  • Managing the facility manager (technical property management, caretaker services, managing building services maintenance)

Risk management

Risk management is divided for organisational purposes into risk management and risk monitoring. Risk management is handled by fund management and risk monitoring by a dedicated real estate risk monitoring unit. The latter is independent of risk management, thereby ensuring the required legal separation of the two functions.

The Union Investment Group's real estate risk monitoring unit brings together all risk monitoring tasks related to the real estate process. There is a special focus on meeting the requirements of institutional investors. This comprises comprehensive checking of legal and contractual investment limits, an early warning system specific to each fund, sophisticated risk quantification techniques for the various risk types and their aggregation, and finally the carrying out of stress tests. This risk analysis is included in the regular risk reports for fund management. In addition, the real estate risk monitoring unit also determines the necessary risk metrics for institutional investors, especially for regulatory MaRisk reporting by investors in the banking sector.

Research

Our research team can draw on decades of real estate market experience across multiple cycles. Its ongoing analysis covers 26 international real estate markets in Europe, Asia and the Americas. This activity includes preparing forecasts and associated market recommendations. The focus is on office, retail, logistics and hotel properties. Additionally, the residential real estate markets in Germany and Europe are closely monitored.

The situation in potential investment locations to which we currently have no exposure is likewise tracked. Furthermore, the team explores issues such as demographics and cycle analysis which have medium to long-term effects on the real estate markets.

Sustainability management

Union Investment believes that sustainability and business success are inextricably linked. The Group-wide introduction of our Responsible Investment Policy means that sustainability considerations are firmly embedded in Union Investment’s investment processes.

Union Investment's sustainability management is based on the following principles:

  • The United Nations' Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI)
  • Sustainability Code for the real estate industry (ZIA – German Property Federation)

In order to achieve a sustainable portfolio design, we use specific tools to measure and analyse quantitative and qualitative data, and identify and implement potentials. These tools include:

  • the Portfolio Sustainability Management System
  • the Sustainable Investment Check
  • Green leases (i.e. featuring clauses on sustainability), which Union Investment is continually integrating in its portfolio
  • Participation in rating initiatives such as Scope and GRESB (Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark) for an external assessment of the sustainability performance of our real estate funds

More on sustainability:

Reporting

We provide professional reporting. The scope and level of detail can be defined for each individual client based on their requirements. Examples of reports include in particular:

  • Regulatory reports (e.g. MaRisk report, CRR report, GroMiKV (German regulation on large exposures and loans) report, Solvency II reporting, VAG (German Insurance Supervision Act) reporting)
  • Fund reports (e.g. factsheet, monthly report, semi-annual report, annual report)
  • Tax reports (e.g. taxation assessment principles (report pursuant to Section 5 of the German Investment Tax Act); tax reconciliation and offsetting of taxable income)
  • Further information based on specific requirements (e.g. brief overviews, fund price time series, complete statement of assets or additional individual evaluations as requested by the client)

Awards and ratings

We are delighted by the regular awards and top ratings we receive for real estate management, portfolio management and customer service:

Associations and institutions

Union Investment has an excellent market presence, a strong network and extensive industry contacts. The company also offers clear competitive advantages in terms of market penetration, industry perception and visibility.

The following overview shows Union Investment’s close ties with selected international associations and organisations. We actively contribute to a number of bodies, as a member and participant, to develop standards and drive progress in other areas.

  • Logo BVI

    BVI – German Investment and Asset Management Association (Bundesverband Investment und Asset Management e.V.)

    BVI is an association of investment companies founded in 1970 that works to establish uniform standards, among other things. Union Investment has been an active member for many years.

  • Logo ZIA

    ZIA – German Property Federation (Zentraler Immobilien Ausschuss)

    The ZIA is the only association that brings together the property and capital markets. As a ZIA member, Union Investment also contributes to increasing transparency and professionalism in the property industry and improving the industry's image.

  • Logo DGNB

    DGNB – German Sustainable Building Council (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen e.V.)

    The DGNB was founded in 2007 and is the largest and most important sustainability organisation in the German real estate industry. Union Investment is among the founding members.

  • Logo ULI

    ULI - Urban Land Institute

    As a member of ULI Europe, Union Investment advocates responsible urban and regional planning and supports the training and continued professional development of young employees and real estate managers.

  • Logo AFIRE

    AFIRE – Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate

    AFIRE members have a shared interest in maintaining and promoting cross-border real estate investment. As the official voice of the foreign real estate industry in the United States, AFIRE has represented the interests of more than 200 investing organisations worldwide since 1988.

  • Logo RICS

    RICS - Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors

    RICS promotes and establishes the highest professional qualifications and standards in property development and management, construction and infrastructure. Union Investment is a member of this British professional association, which was founded back in 1868.

  • Logo gif

    gif – Society of Property Researchers

    The gif promotes research and teaching in the real estate industry. It builds bridges between the academic and business worlds, creates standards to boost market transparency and helps drive the professionalisation of the industry.

Your contact

Bastian Pütz

Would you like to know more about our institutional real estate solutions? Just give me a call. I look forward to hearing from you.

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