SEB has developed a real estate fund of funds for the Swedish market and become the first fund management company to receive authorization to distribute the Fund to the public in Sweden. SEB Real Estate Portfolio, which invests in a variety of real estate products, is a novelty for Swedish private investors, who were previously only able to invest in real estate equities. Vehicles such as open-ended real estate funds are unknown on the Swedish market.
"In recent years Sweden has seen a sharp increase in interest in real estate as an asset class, and especially in real estate products that are less volatile than real estate equities," said Barbara Knoflach, CEO of SEB Asset Management Deutschland, explaining the rationale behind the launch of the real estate fund of funds for the Swedish market.
SEB Real Estate Portfolio (LU0383534038) has been launched in Luxemburg as an FCP Part II fund. Its defensive investment strategy focuses on open-ended real estate funds (60% to 90%), real estate equities (up to 20%) and cash (up to 20%). In terms of sector allocation, the main areas are office properties, followed by retail and logistics/other.
SEB Asset Management in Frankfurt was in charge of the project to develop the new fund. The German investment house has 20 years' experience in the real estate business and manages over 250 properties in 21 countries. SEB's real estate funds have assets under management of approximately €10 billion.
SEB Real Estate Portfolio is managed by Dr Thorsten Schilling (41). A proven real estate expert with a doctorate in economics, Dr Schilling headed the Real Estate Research department at Feri Rating & Research before joining SEB Asset Management as a Global Real Estate Strategist and Fund Manager in October 2006.
Source: SEB
