BNP Paribas REIM announces the launch of Afer Pierre, a fund dedicated to AFER, the Association Française d’Epargne et de Retraite (French Savings and Pension Association) with the support of the insurer Abeille Assurances (formerly Aviva France). The association wanted to diversify its unit-linked funds by integrating more real estate, and chose BNP Paribas REIM France for its Afer Pierre fund, which fits perfectly with this objective by focusing on responsible real estate, compliant with Article 8 of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation.
Afer Pierre is a diversified French civil law company that will be mostly made up of directly-owned real estate (around 70%), together with a portion indirectly invested via SCPI, retail OPCI and property company shares (around 30%). It aims to offer broad diversification in terms of asset type with a portfolio composed of offices, residential, logistics platforms and street-level shops. The diversification will also be offered in terms of location, with investments mainly targeted in France but in other European countries as well, such as Germany and BeNeLux. Afer Pierre aims to achieve an annualised return of around 4% over a 10-year holding period.
Three acquisitions have already been made for a total amount of almost €80m. Firstly, there are two multi-tenant office buildings: one located at 9 rue Henri Martin in Boulogne-Billancourt, with a surface area of about 3 400 sqm and 90% rented; the other, Heron Building, with a surface area of about 6 400 sqm, fully rented and located in the Vaise area, one of the main tertiary sectors in Lyon. Finally, the fund acquired a logistics platform of 21 000 sqm under construction near Eindhoven in the Netherlands. It is expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2022 and is already fully pre-leased under a long-term lease. Further acquisitions are expected in the coming weeks, particularly in the residential sector.
For this new fund, BNP Paribas REIM has opted for a so-called “Best-in-Progress” RSI strategy. This approach is entirely consistent with the company's CSR commitments and consists of improving the ESG performance of the portfolio's assets, particularly from an environmental point of view, by setting up dedicated action plans for each building. As a symbol of this ambition and methodology, the fund was awarded the SRI (Socially Responsible Investment) Certification in December 2021.
“We are delighted to have won this call for bids and to be working closely with an association as prominent as Afer. The creation of the Afer Pierre fund demonstrates our expertise and know-how by offering investors access to a widely diversified portfolio in terms of both location – with the support of our field teams in different European countries – and asset type. Moreover, this SRI-certified fund fits perfectly with our CSR strategy: it therefore integrates our range of open-ended funds for private investors, positioned as 100% compliant with Articles 8 and 9 from the SFDR in 2022”, states Fabrice Violot, Commercial Director for BNP Paribas REIM France.
- Amira TAHIROVIC
