Swiss Life AM focuses on logistics and industrial real estate

Swiss Life AM puts the target volume of the new investment solution, which will consist of an investment group (investment foundation) for Swiss pension funds and a fund for institutional investors, at around one billion euros (CHF 1.07 billion).

The fund will invest in industrial and logistics real estate with a regional allocation in Europe. The main focus will be on Germany, France, Benelux, Switzerland and the UK, Swiss Life AM said. Ideally, the properties should be split equally between the industrial and logistics sectors.

Swiss Life AM believes that investments in European industrial and logistics properties benefit from the megatrends of de-globalization, e-commerce, urban logistics and Industry 4.0. Properties of these types of use would be characterized by constant returns, as the focus is more on rental income and less on value growth through market development. Swiss Life AM is convinced that the mix of small-scale industrial and large-scale logistics properties offers above-average returns with below-average earnings volatility. In the Covid-19 crisis, industrial and logistics properties in particular would prove to be extremely robust, in addition to residential properties.

Swiss Life AM managed assets of around CHF 79.3 billion at the end of March this year. Together with the investments of Swiss Life's insurance companies, Swiss Life AM manages assets of over 250 billion. With real estate valued at around 97.5 billion as of the end of 2019, Swiss Life AM is considered one of the largest institutional real estate investors in Europe. Within the company, its subsidiary Beos specializes in the development and management of industrial and logistics real estate. As of the end of 2019, the company managed more than 4.2 billion in assets in this investment segment, Swiss Life AM said. (ah)