Germany's top Property Managers – the definitive ranking

The Cologne-based Bell Management Consultants has produced its eighth annual report on the German property management industry, including its well-recognised hit-list of the country's leading property managers ranked according to a variety of criteria.

The survey has established itself as the leading ranking list of market participants, similar to the same consultancy group's ranking of Germany's Asset Managers, which we reported on in July this year.

The Bell consultants surveyed 117 asset managers, investors and fund managers for their feedback, along with along with other available input from data sources from a further 49 service providers. In an industry that is as fractured as the property management industry in a market as big and regionally diversified as Germany, the goal of the Bell Consultants analysis is to establish a reputable ranking list based on the characteristics of "Brand Strength" and "Competence", according to director Peter Brieger.

The enormously comprehensive report divides the market up into categories by size (above and below the benchmark of €17m) and asset type. A clear message from the report is that increased specialisation is the hallmark of the industry now, with particularly service providers with turnover in the category of less than €17m turnover achieving higher customer satisfaction ratings than the larger enterprises.

The highest overall property manager rating was earned by HIH Property Management (HPM), while ECE Projektmanagement had the highest turnover and the company with the highest name recognition is now Tectareal. Across a broad range of asset categories, respondents named the biggest likely competitors to their existing service provider as Bilfinger Real Estate, BNP Paribas and Strabag PFS.

Among the large office property managers (turnover above €17m), BNP Paribas headed the list, as it did last year, followed by Tectareal Property Management (which jumped up from last year's fifth), and JLL, then Bilfinger RE and Strabag.

In the smaller office category (below €17m), HIH Property Management headed the list, followed by GGM and Goldbeck Procenter, then IC PM and PropertyFirst.

In residential property management, the highest rating was achieved by DIM for the thrid year in a row, followed by Strabag Property and Facility Services and – at some distance – Treureal, and then BauGrund.

In retail, ECE Projektmanagement headed the list, well ahead of next-placed Estama and then Bilfinger Real Estate, followed by BNP PRE and IC PM. The Hamburg-based ECE also had the highest volume of any manager on the list, with an annual turnover of €90m.

For the first time the Bell researchers also queried all respondents on what characteristics they valued most highly from their property managers. Highest on the list were Reliability and Sticking to Deadlines, followed by Customer Orientation, Data Quality, Reachability and Speed of Response.

Specialisation is becoming increasingly important, with 75% of property managers mainly focused on one asset class, up from 72% in last year's survey. 31% are focused on office property, followed by residential at 20%, shopping centres at 11%, other retail 7%, logistic centres 4% and retail parks at 4%.

The Bell Consultants Property Management Report is available from: peter-brieger@bell-consultants.com