Residential property as a new growth opportunity

Our open-ended real estate and special funds have traditionally largely comprised commercial properties. Offices, retail and hospitality are the dominant asset classes and we have been at home in these market segments for decades. Recently, however, we have begun to strategically develop our capabilities in the area of residential real estate. To create the right conditions for future growth, this strategy includes boosting our own in-house expertise and also establishing long-term alliances with strong residential specialists.

Residential real estate across Germany

In March 2017, Union Investment agreed a strategic partnership with residential real estate specialist ZBI Zentral Boden Immobilien Group. Through a newly formed partnership holding company, Union Investment and ZBI have already launched two funds that focus on residential property – one in 2017 for private investors, followed in 2018 by a fund for institutional Investors:

Unilmmo: Wohnen ZBI is an open-ended real estate fund targeted at private investors. The residential real estate fund is marketed exclusively through the cooperative banking network as an extension of Union Investment's existing Unilmmo product family. The Unilmmo: Wohnen ZBI investment universe comprises residential property of varying sizes and many different structures across Germany. The investment focus is on living space for the broad Population.

ZBI Union Wohnen Plus is an open-ended special AIF focusing on large and medium-sized German cities.

Micro-living

Union Investment has been active in the micro-living segment on behalf of institutional investors for many years. 2017 saw the launch of the first micro-living fund for this target group with a focus on student apartments, micro apartments and serviced apartments.