AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets has launched the AXA CoRE Europe Fund, a new pan-European open ended real estate fund, having initially raised over €500m from a range of European institutions.
AXA CoRE Europe will seek to provide institutional investors with long-term stable income through the acquisition of Core real estate assets across Europe, capitalising on individual market dynamics and timing. Over the long term AXA IM - Real Assets aims to grow AXA CoRE Europe steadily into a flagship European fund with a target size of €3bn to €5bn.
AXA CoRE Europe was one of the club of investors which AXA IM - Real Assets put together and have agreed to acquire France’s tallest tower, Tour First in Paris La Défense. This project is in-line with the Fund’s strategy to focus investments on Europe’s largest and most established and transparent markets - UK, Germany and France - while maintaining the ability to invest across the entire continent. AXA CoRE Europe will target mainstream asset classes, primarily offices and retail, and seek investments into well-located assets which have high building technical and sustainability specifications and are let to strong tenants on medium or long term leases.
The lead fund manager for the fund will be Rainer Suter who is head of continental funds and separate accounts, at AXA IM - Real Assets. He will be supported by three experienced portfolio managers based respectively in London, Paris and Cologne.
Rainer Suter, fund leader for AXA CoRE Europe, commented: “In an environment where institutional investors are continually searching for yield that allows them to meet their ongoing liability requirements, investment into core real estate assets through a large scale and highly diversified vehicle which offers visible long term income is a compelling proposition. AXA CoRE Europe will seek to offer investors precisely this in a European real estate fund, which is also sufficiently flexible to dynamically manage economic and real estate cycles over the long term.”
Isabelle Scemama, head of funds group, added: “Core investment is absolutely part of AXA IM - Real Assets’ DNA and AXA CoRE Europe encapsulates in a single vehicle everything that has enabled us to become the no.1 real estate manager in Europe: our front-row access to deals resulting from our extensive local European footprint, our expertise and track record across all major property sectors, and our 30 years of experience in managing vehicles to answer investors’ needs.”
