Market entry of Commerz Real

Asset and investment manager Commerz Real recently began offering its special funds to institutional investors based in Switzerland. In total, the company manages a global real assets portfolio of around 31 billion euros, primarily in real estate, renewable energies and infrastructure.

The special funds invest in student and micro-apartments, hotels, wind farms or infrastructure projects, among others, and the targeted returns are reportedly between four and six percent. "We have repeatedly felt a great demand from institutional investors in Switzerland for diversified real asset investments with an attractive risk-return profile," said Johannes Anschott, the member of Commerz Real's Board of Managing Directors responsible for institutional business, explaining the motives for entering the market. This demand is driven by the persistently low interest rates, the positive economic development and the volatility of other asset classes.

Commerz Real sees itself as a specialist in tailor-made structuring. It recently launched an infrastructure fund through its Luxembourg-based company CR Fund Management S.à r.l.. The CR Institutional Infrastructure Multi-Asset Fund II intends to invest in at least six to eight infrastructure projects over a term of about 15 years. For this purpose, Commerz Real intends to acquire about 500 million euros from institutional investors (targeted IRR return: 6 8% p.a.). The fund is structured as a SICAV-RAIF in the legal form of an SCA. "With the new fund, we want to give our investors the opportunity to benefit from the attractive opportunities of a segment whose capital requirements are growing rapidly worldwide, while leveraging our many years of experience in the infrastructure sector," says Anschott. (bw)