Aberdeen Property Investors has launched a new property fund, the Aberdeen Real Estate Fund Finland (AREFF). The closed fund has been customised for three institutional investors - Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company Finland, pension fund ABP from the Netherlands and Danish ATP Real Estate - who have all invested equal amounts of capital to the fund.
The new fund also announces its first acquisition. On 3 January 2007, it acquired an approx. €280 million property portfolio consisting of 47 commercial properties, mainly offices, from Ilmarinen. The properties are located in Helsinki, Tampere, Turku, Oulu and Vaasa.
Through this transaction Ilmarinen has been able to achieve its aim of reallocating a substan-tial amount of its property ownership from direct to indirect ownership in Finland, as investor in the new fund.
AREFF will continue to look for further properties with potential to generate high alpha. The fund's risk return profile is value added and its target size is €500 million. The fund is closed for new investors.
Pertti Vanhanen, Managing Director, Aberdeen Property Investors in Finland commented: "We are pleased that leading European investors have such confidence in our performance and the Finnish real estate market. This first acquisition offers a great platform for success and suits the value added investment strategy of the fund."
Esko Torsti, Head of Alternatives from Ilmarinen, commented: "This is the first opportunity we have had to reallocate a substantial amount of our property ownership to indirect investment. This fund fulfills our investment criteria and I believe that AREFF will produce superior performance for Ilmarinen and the other investors."
Also commenting, Arne Andreasen, Investment Manager in ATP Real Estate, said: "ATP, Denmark's largest pension fund, regards AREFF as a unique opportunity to invest in Finland together with like-minded investors. AREFF fits very well in ATP Real Estate's strategy of venturing with local experts targeting value added real estate opportunities."
Andrea Attisani, Portfolio Manager of ABP Investments, added: "We believe that AREFF is a great opportunity to get a focused exposure into a fund positioned to capitalize on the sound Finnish market fundamentals. Aberdeen is the right manager to exe-cute the investment strategy given their long track record and extensive network in Finland."
AREFF will be managed by Aberdeen Property Investors.
Source: Aberdeen
