German fund vehicles double performance in Q1

German non-listed real estate funds continued their strong performance during the first quarter of the year, doubling the growth of the previous quarter, according to the latest German figures released by INREV.

The All German Vehicles Index delivered returns of 1.2% over the first quarter of 2017, up from 0.6% in the previous quarter. On an annualised four quarters rolling return basis, performance for non-listed German vehicles was 3.5%.

Total returns for Spezialfonds was 1.6% over Q1 2017, up from the 1.3% delivered in Q4 2016. Publikumsfonds, which account for 65.0% of Index NAV, saw performance increase from 0.3% in Q4 2016 to 1.0% in Q1 2017.

Vehicles that invest only in Germany showed solid performance of 2.1% during this quarter, an increase from 1.8% in Q4 2016. Meanwhile, German vehicles with a global strategy saw returns edging to 0.7%, up from 0.5% recorded in Q4 2016.

Within the different sectors, logistics and residential sectors recorded identical returns in Q1 2017, achieving 1.7% each. The retail sector showed similar performance, recording 1.5% and office sector performance rose to 0.5%, up from 0.3% recorded in the previous quarter.

According to Henri Vuong, INREV's redoubtable director of research and market information, “The first quarter of 2017 saw a robust performance from non-listed real estate vehicles domiciled in Germany, with notably strong income returns driving the positive results. Interestingly, Spezialfonds continued to outperform Publikumsfonds - even though the gap in performance has narrowed. The results seem to justify investors’ faith in these vehicles which can invest across various countries and sectors.”