Foreigners hold more than 80% of German listed RE companies

Over 80% of investment in the German listed real estate sector comes from foreign investors, according to a new study by Hamburg-based Kirchhoff Consulting and the US-based data service Valuation Metrics.

47% of investors are currently western European, 31% from North America, 3% from elsewhere, and only 19% from German investors. The single biggest investor is the Norwegian sovereign fund, Norges Bank, with currently more than $1.5bn invested in eight of the 18 companies listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange's real estate index (DAX sub-sector Real Estate).

The sovereign fund for Norway (Norges Bank) is by far the most important investor in Germany's listed real estate companies. According to an analysis by Kirchhoff Consult and USA-based data service Valuation Metrics, Norges Bank currently has 1.5bn USD invested in eight of the 18 companies listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange's real estate index (DAX sub-sector Real Estate).

The London branches of Blackrock Investment Management and MFS International are the next largest at $885mn in eight companies, and $759m in four companies, respectively. State Street Global (UK) and UBS Global Asset Management (Switzerland) have both got investments in 14 of the 18 companies, with $108m and $69m respectively. A further seven investment groups have investments in 13 of the 18.

Among the ten largest investors among the eighteen companies, only two are from Germany: Deutsche Asset & Wealth (Frankfurt) with €434m in ten companies, and the Munich branch of Blackrock with $410m in six companies.