(Visited 39 times, 1 visits today)
(Visited 39 times, 1 visits today)

A good year for asset management

14 June, Milano Finanza

2017 was a good year for asset management globally. Among property funds (listed and not listed) and Reit, the equity amounted last year to 2,830 billion euro, having increased by 8% from 2016, second best performance ever. A large part of this value refers to Reit, which alone hold 77% of the assets. Italy has also done well. In the country, in fact, the recovery of the property market consolidated and the not listed property funds continued to grow (while the listed ones are destined to disappear). At the end of 2017, the NAV was 53 billion, +10.4% from the previous year, while for 2018 is meant to reach 55 billion, consistent with the rest of Europe. The data are taken from the 2018 report on “Property funds in Italy and abroad” by Scenari Immobiliari in collaboration with Studio Casadei.

In Italy, the real estate assets directly held by funds (excluding foreign investments) amount to 58 billion euro, with an 8.4% increase from 2016. The active funds have grown, 420 in total, and they are often used as a vehicle by foreign investors, which are increasingly active in the country. Mario Breglia, president of Scenari Immobiliari, explains: “The good shape of the sector is proved by the continuous reduction of the indebtedness of funds, at present equal to 24 billion, namely 41.3% of the equity against the 57% of 2010”. On the contrary, returns are meagre, but asset management companies have to declare these only in the case of listed funds, which are a small part of the sector. The Roe for 2017 for retail and some reserved funds is set at 0.4%. The Roe has slightly improved from the 0.2% of 2016 and recovered from the negative values of 2013, but they are still very low nonetheless.

The report shows for the first time also the figures related to asset management companies, whose total turnover for 2017 is assessed at around 320 million euro. Throughout the year, there had been acquisitions for 7.6 billion euro against divestitures for 4.4 billion euro. For what concerns the investment type, the global asset allocation saw a slight increase in offices, commercial properties and hotels. More in detail, 63% of the equity was invested in offices, 19% in commercial properties (shopping centres, retail parks, high-street shops), 4% in logistics and the same quota were spent in the development of projects, while 10% was invested in the residential/other typology.

In Europe, after the little reduction in the 2008-2009 period, the equity of the funds of the eight countries considered by the survey (France, Germany, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and Italy) resumed its growth. It then accelerated by 10% in 2015 and 2016, and by 16% in 2017. The sector is supported by the improved conditions of the real estate sector and by the economic growth, together with higher liquidity and the steady interest rates that make real estate more attractive than bonds. “The outlook for 2018 is for a further growth of the equity by over 5%”, Breglia concludes. “The political changes seem not to have impacted players’ strategies, and we’re positive about the growth of the sector, which is characterised by more funds and more diversified products”.

Source: Milano Finanza

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi