Swiss Life fund buys abroad

Swiss Life Asset Managers has acquired the "Fredriksberg A" commercial building in Helsinki for the real estate fund. The property is located in the Vallila district, a business district of the Finnish capital. According to Swiss Life AM, the new six-storey building has around 9,000 square meters of office, restaurant and retail space. In the coming years, apartments as well as offices and spaces for gastronomy and culture are to be built in the immediate vicinity.

Swiss Life REF (CH) European Properties has also invested in France for the first time. The property in question is a commercial building in Boulogne-Billancourt, a suburban community in the southwest of Paris. The property comprises 4,350 sqm of office space and is only a few hundred meters from the city center and the nearest metro station.

According to Swiss Life AM, 237 million of the allocated equity capital of 300 million euros has already been called up and invested since the fund was launched on November 30, 2017. Swiss Life REF (CH) European Properties currently holds eight properties in Germany, France, the UK, Belgium and Finland, with further acquisitions planned in the coming months, according to the fund management company. The long-term plan is to raise fresh capital for the further growth of the fund.

Swiss Life REF (CH) European Properties invests in core and core-plus locations in major European cities, regional centers and their associated agglomerations. The investment focus is on Germany, France, the UK, Austria, Benelux, Scandinavia and Southern Europe. The fund is aimed at qualified investors. The aim is to achieve a distribution yield of three percent. (ah)