Closed funds: Initiators hail risk
“All together, we've seen closed funds become more risk-friendly in past months,“ said Ignaz Trombello, a partner at Colliers Trombello Kölbel Immobilienconsulting GmbH. On the one hand, the issuing houses are betting on exploitation methods, on the other investments in foreign growth regions.
Closed property funds are becoming increasingly attractive to private investors, and currently much more capital flows into participant offers than before. In light of the high influx of funds, fund initiators are looking for new ways to satisfy the yield expectations of investors. Until recently, fully-rented office properties were the most popular investment asset of the closed funds, but due to negative developments in the office markets, it's difficult to find heavy-yield properties. Because of that, closed property funds are gradually investing in other use areas or looking for suitable foreign investment properties. "All in all, closed investment funds have taken more risks in the past months," according to Ignaz Trombello, Managing Director of Colliers Trombello Kölbel Immobilienconsulting GmbH.
As an alternative to German office properties, investors are going into closed funds for hotels, residential and home care properties, as well as project developments.
DBM Fonds Invest GmbH, a subsidiary of the private bank Delbrück Bethmann Maffei, brought a particularly spectacular shareholding offer to market at the end of last year: Global VIEW will invest in four planned Ferris wheels in Peking, Tsingtao, Dubai, and Berlin. “What here really still looks like property are the integrated terminal buildings with space for restaurants, retail shops, and free time,“ said Trombello. According to his perspective, other initiators will want to develop their product in the future, if not also with such spectacular projects.