French asset management company Anaxago Capital has launched FCPR ANAXAGO SocietyOne, a private equity real estate fund specializing in real estate development and renovation.
The company aims to raise €30 million ($34 million) to invest in a portfolio of 20 to 40 real estate development, renovation and property trading operations. Its goal is to enable investors to achieve a target return of around 8 percent (IRR net of all management fees) within a five-year investment horizon (renewable twice for one year at the decision of the management company).
The fund is open to retail investors with investments starting from €10,000 ($11,340) and will allow for exposure to a diversified portfolio of projects primarily in France, but 25 percent of which may be located in Europe.
The development and renovation market, which is a very fast-growing market in France, has demonstrated its resilience, supported by a very high level of demand from both private and professional investors. Against the backdrop of increasingly scare property in French cities and with 40 percent of offices built in the center of Paris more than 80 years old, the need to adapt commercial property to new requirements presents a number of opportunities in renovating old properties.
“We have democratized access to investment in private equity real estate since 2014 with the ANAXAGO participative capital financing platform and firmly believe that our investment strategy is relevant in a context of low interest rates and lack of performance on the traditional financial markets. Structural needs are driving the development of the real estate market, whether in terms of housing need, logistics warehouses or offices adapted to new uses and environmental concerns,” says Joachim Dupont, chairman of Anaxago Capital.
The fund will be able to co-invest with the ANAXAGO platform under the same terms and will benefit from a right of first review of each new investment opportunity put forward. This partnership between the group’s entities will make it possible to benefit from the platform’s very considerable sourcing and its track record (150 investments made and €70 million ($79 million) invested since 2014 in real estate development), as well as its regional presence via offices in Paris, Lyon and Marseille.
As part of a socially responsible investment approach, the fund will take SRI criteria into consideration in its allocation strategy, incorporating in particular social and low-rent housing projects, senior residences and also the renovation of energy-inefficient buildings or more generally renovation projects providing added value in terms of energy efficiency.
A first for an asset management company, investors will be able to subscribe to the fund directly from its website by means of a fully digitized process.
“Portfolio management is in the early stages of the digital revolution, and our fintech DNA therefore encourages us to come up with straightforward and fully digitized client processes from subscription to monitoring investments, in order to offer complete transparency,” says Dupont.
The fund will also be distributed by a small number of partners (wealth management advisers and private banks) selected by the management company for the quality of support they offer their clients.