UBS Asset Management (Italia) SGR S.p.A. has announced that Global Real Estate business has been appointed by Zurich Investments Life SpA, a fully owned subsidiary of Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich), to launch and manage the €400m pan-European investment fund UBS (I) Zurich Italy - Real Estate Fund (UBS-ZIREF).
The fund, having the duration of 15 years, will seek to deploy €400m into Core and Core Plus properties and will be Zurich's primary platform for real estate investment in Italy and, residually, across the eurozone. UBS-ZIREF will implement an investment portfolio to acquire offices, retail and industrial assets with the potential to provide stable rental returns.
The fund’s investment strategy will be primarily focused on the Italian market, which is one of the diversification targets for Zurich in Europe and features investment fundamentals throughout the consolidation phase, as well as good prospects for growth in the mid-term. Investments into other eurozone markets will be carefully selected with the goal of increasing the portfolio’s diversification characteristics.
Being awarded this mandate builds up the achievements of UBS Asset Management, which has been engaged in the Italian real estate market for 12 years and with a dedicated platform established in 2015. Since then, it has developed and strengthened its internal structure thanks to a team of industry specialists.
"UBS-ZIREF is the second real estate fund that our team has been competitively selected to manage on behalf of a leading insurance company and the first that has a significant focus on the Italian market, commented Marco Doglio, head of Global Real Estate – Italy. The wealth of our investment experience enabled us to stand out from national and international primary operators, thus being awarded the mandate. Our dedicated platform fully integrated in the European structure, together with the combination of our global footprint and in-depth local expertise, and our research-based investment approach mean we are uniquely positioned to provide investors with tailored real estate investment programmes, as the ones we are going to deliver for Zurich.”
“The establishment of this fund – stated Riccardo Cobianchi, head of Real Estate Southern Europe for Zurich and Matteo Riccardi, CIO of Zurich in Italy – underlines the trust we have in the Italian real estate market and in the eurozone. We aim to invest on core assets in major cities by selecting prime properties. The pan-European focus of this fund allows us to create attractive returns for our clients and shareholders. Our selection awarded UBS Asset Management due to the experience and local presence in our target investment markets.”
KPMG Advisory S.p.A. and Gianni, Origoni, Grippo, Cappelli & Partners acted as advisers to Zurich on this transaction, while DLA Piper as adviser to GRE.
