Redevco appoints new fund directors as third-party assets grow to €2.7b
Pan-European retail real estate specialist Redevco has appointed Marrit Laning and Thierry Cahierre as fund directors for its investment management business.
Laning holds the responsibility for two portfolios in her new role as managing director fund management at Redevco. She also heads up the portfolio platform, which develops best practices for asset management and takes an active role in the company’s innovation team. Laning was previously Redevco head of research and strategy.
Cahierre became Redevco managing director for France in 2014, after previously serving as country manager. In this role he has been responsible for the successful completion of the award-winning, inner-city development of Promenade Sainte-Catherine in Bordeaux opened in 2015. In addition, he and his team managed to secure key acquisitions and grow the French portfolio to €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion). This achievement is recognized in his latest appointment as fund director.
Assets managed by Redevco on behalf of third-party investors jumped to 37 percent of the total portfolio of €7.4 billion ($8.5 billion), or nearly €2.7 billion ($3.1 billion) compared to none five years ago. In parallel with the growth in third-party assets, Redevco’s portfolio has continuously outperformed the underlying European retail real estate market by 200 basis points per year on average over this period, with a mean annual total investment return of 9 percent unleveraged.
“The pan-European platform for third-party investors has been gaining increasing growth momentum on the back of above benchmark performance, despite a rapidly evolving and volatile retail landscape,” said Andrew Vaughan, Redevco CEO, at the annual ExpoReal real estate trade fair in Munich. “By opening up our research-driven investment strategies and skilled teams on the ground across Europe for other investors, beyond our parent COFRA group, Redevco is securing partnerships with some of the leading institutions and managers in the market.”
As Redevco has entered into joint venture partnerships with major like-minded investors, including Ares, Hermes and PGGM, particularly in the past three years, the composition of its property portfolio has also undergone a wholesale transformation. Total assets under management have been relatively stable rising from €6.6 billion to €7.4 billion ($7.6 billion to $8.5 billion) between 2012 and 2018, but this covers a profound shift in the profile and geographical location of the underlying assets.
At the beginning of the process, Redevco withdrew from markets including China, Turkey, Romania, Italy, the Nordics and Poland, to refocus on its mainly Western European core heartland.
The European retail real estate landscape has since evolved dramatically, driven by changing consumer behavior and the rise of e-commerce. Consumers have moved from a “need-to-buy” to a “need-to-enjoy.” More online shopping means using less stores and spending more time on alternatives: food, beverage, leisure, and the strengthening of the polarization in the retail landscape. These megatrends meant that “location risk” has leapt up the agenda and Redevco has had to move from being “sales centric” to “experience centric.” Transforming the retail offer from point of purchase toward points of engagement has become crucial to staying on top of the consumer’s state of mind.
