With its "Strategy 2030", the KanAm Grund Group has created the basis for being well positioned for the future in the long term. Thanks to its conservative and forward-looking corporate policy, the internationally active real estate specialist can continue to hold its own in a difficult market environment. At the end of the year, assets under management amounted to around 7 billion euros. Of this, 80 per cent came from institutional investors. The focus is currently on targeted asset management and sustainability measures, accompanied by continued high letting performance. The KanAm Grund Group has also expanded its long-standing expertise in the office, logistics and development segments to include additional products and services. In addition, the current market phase has made it possible to seize the first anti-cyclical investment opportunities for investors.
Olivier Catusse, CEO and Managing Partner of the KanAm Grund Group, says: "Strategy 2030 is fully focused on our core competencies for the benefit of our clients. In the area of asset management, our focus is on improving property quality and letting performance. In 2023, we rented out or extended more than 100,000 square meters. We were also able to secure or realize a transaction volume of more than 300 million euros last year. In addition, we expanded our range of services to include "Green Real Estate Solutions" and added a "European Residential Property Fund" and an "ECO Fund" to our range of specialized funds for institutional investors. The satisfaction of our investors is at the center of all our activities as the basis for a further increase in assets under management."
Utilizing the market situation for acquisitions - winning new asset management mandates
As a German company with a pan-European property platform with offices in Frankfurt am Main, Munich, Luxembourg, London, Madrid, Paris and Atlanta, KanAm Grund Group's investor base includes both German and foreign investors. The investment focus is currently on office, logistics and development properties in Germany, Europe and North America. In these markets, the real estate expert has excellent access to attractive properties through its local management.
In October 2023, for example, KanAm Grund Group acquired a logistics property in Walsrode in northern Germany as part of an institutional mandate. A goods and service center with several building sections for a public-sector tenant is to be built on a plot of around 9 hectares with a floor area of around 60,000 square meters.
At the beginning of this year, KanAm Grund Group also acquired the "AGAPES" property in Villeneuve d’Ascq, in the greater Lille area, with a total area of 9,000 square metres. The long-term tenant is the Agapes Group, which is owned by the Mulliez family.
The transactions once again show that the real estate specialist is able to select and acquire first class properties even in a challenging market environment. Its many years of expertise and the investment advantages offered by its local presence are being recognized by investors accordingly. In the first quarter of 2024, KanAm Grund Group already acquired two new mandates from institutional investors.
Targeted asset management and ESG measures to optimize the quality of the property portfolio
As part of the increased asset management activities, targeted refurbishment measures are being implemented at various properties. This will increase their energy efficiency on the one hand and optimize the prospect of rising rental income on the other. KanAm Grund Group's aim is to make the properties attractive to existing and new tenants in the long term in order to retain them. Most recently, KanAm Grund Group has achieved particular success in this regard with the highest DGNB Platinum certifications for existing buildings.
Comprehensive ESG services for institutional investors
The European real estate specialist has been active in the field of sustainability for over a decade and is one of the property asset managers that has built up special sustainability expertise in recent years. Investors also benefit from this. By expanding its range of services to include "Green Real Estate Solutions", KanAm Grund Group offers innovative and 360-degree comprehensive sustainability services for institutional investors.
Outlook and objectives
The KanAm Grund Group is cautiously optimistic about the rest of 2024. The majority of German and foreign institutional investors remain cautious, even though property investments with special yield requirements are being examined again. The European property market is expected to pick up in the second half of 2024 and 2025. The prospect of interest rate cuts is highly likely to revitalize the investment
markets. There is potential for rental growth in numerous segments of the property market. The location
and quality of the properties play an important role here.
In the medium term, the KanAm Grund Group intends to further strengthen its market position and increase its assets under management accordingly.
Investment opportunities in office properties and in the logistics, development and residential segments are to be realized via its pan-European platform and regional networks in the most important European markets. Corresponding products such as a "European residential property fund" and an "ECO fund" with a focus on value creation through refurbishments have been developed and prepared for the launch phase.
Olivier Catusse says: "Our forward-looking corporate policy aims to be able to act immediately, diversified and with large volumes when the markets pick up. With a convincing range of services and products, we want to optimally serve the needs and objectives of our investors. The course has been set to be competitive in the long term and well positioned for the future."