Global investment manager AEW has been awarded a new €150m separate account mandate from German public pension fund Rheinische Versorgungskassen Köln (RVK) to undertake a core investment strategy focused on French office and retail assets.
The mandate was awarded to the London and Paris-based AEW following a competitive tendering process, with RVK being advised by RMC Risk Management Consulting.
RVK has a €1.5bn real estate portfolio, and the asset class plays an important role in its overall portfolio allocation, said the pension fund.
With target leverage of between 40-45%, the mandate will have a total investment capacity of €250 - €300m. It will specifically focus on retail and office assets, with an 80% weighting on the Paris market. AEW said it has already teed up a pipeline of over €100m of potential acquisitions, with a number of deals currently at the due diligence stage.
Stephan Boenning, head of Germany and CEE at AEW, said: “We have already identified a number of investment opportunities in France and are looking forward to making our first acquisitions on behalf of RVK in the next weeks.”
