Helaba Invest launches loan fund for Sparkassen

Helaba Invest, the asset manager of the Frankfurt-based landesbank Helaba, is for the first time offering a fund based on real estate loans that gives savings banks (Sparkassen) access to Helaba's own diversified credit portfolio.

The new product is structured as a German Spezialfonds, or Alternative Investment Fund (AIF). In its first closing, it achieved a subscription volume of €100 million, while the planned target volume of the fund is €250 million. Closing is scheduled for the end of October.

The fund, HI-Immobilien-Kredit-Fonds I, is investing in a broadly diversified portfolio of mortgage-backed, unsecuritised loan receivables that were originated solely by Helaba. The investment strategy is focused on Europe, with particular emphasis on Germany.

Helaba said that the fund is targeting a wide-ranging diversification across different sectors and usage types, with the intention that the loans be held until their respective final maturity dates. No new investments are planned after repayment. For the savings banks as investors, the portfolio thus remains predictable over the entire duration of the fund. The loans are selected by Helaba Invest's portfolio management team.

“In an environment of permanently low interest rates, the credit fund will enable the savings banks to further diversify their own investments and at the same time achieve an attractive return,“ says Uwe Trautmann, Chairman of Helaba Invest's Management Board. “They benefit from Helaba's expertise and market access as the leading bank in commercial real estate finance.”

Nobert Kellner, Head of Debt Capital Markets and Sales Management RE at Helaba, said: “With the launch of the real estate credit fund, we are responding to the wishes of many Sparkassen to participate in Helaba's loan portfolio”.

Access by means of a fund solution enables a broader diversification of loans, he said. In addition, the real estate loan fund opens up another funding channel for Helaba, while the fund complements the existing syndication platform through which savings banks can already invest in individual real estate transactions.