The new fund also announces its first acquisition. On 3 January 2007, it acquired an approx. EUR 280 million property portfolio consisting of 47 commercial properties, mainly offices, from Ilmarinen. The properties are located in Helsinki, Tampere, Turku, Oulu and Vaasa.
Through this transaction Ilmarinen has been able to achieve its aim of reallocating a substan-tial amount of its property ownership from direct to indirect ownership in Finland, as investor in the new fund.
AREFF will continue to look for further properties with potential to generate high alpha. The fund’s risk return profile is value added and its target size is EUR 500 million. The fund is closed for new investors.
Pertti Vanhanen, Managing Director, Aberdeen Property Investors in Finland commented:
”We are pleased that leading European investors have such confidence in our performance and the Finnish real estate market. This first acquisition offers a great platform for success and suits the value added investment strategy of the fund.
Esko Torsti, Head of Alternatives from Ilmarinen commented:
“This is the first opportunity we have had to reallocate a substantial amount of our property ownership to indirect investment. This fund fulfills our investment criteria and I believe that AREFF will produce superior performance for Ilmarinen and the other investors.”
Also commenting, Arne Andreasen, Investment Manager in ATP Real Estate said:
"ATP, Denmark's largest pension fund, regards AREFF as a unique opportunity to invest in Finland together with like-minded investors. AREFF fits very well in ATP Real Estate's strategy of venturing with local experts targeting value added real estate opportunities.”
Andrea Attisani, Portfolio Manager of ABP Investments added: ”We believe that AREFF is a great opportunity to get a focused exposure into a fund positioned to capitalize on the sound Finnish market fundamentals. Aberdeen is the right manager to execute the investment strategy given their long track record and extensive network in Finland.”
AREFF will be managed by Aberdeen Property Investors. END
For more information please contact:
Pertti Vanhanen, Managing Director, Aberdeen Property Investors Finland Oy
Tel: +358 10 3040 301, mobile +358 500 669 979
E-mail: pertti.vanhanen@aberdeenpropertyinvestors.com
Esko Torsti, Head of Alternatives, Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company
Tel: +358 10 284 3945, mobile +358 50 629 42
E-mail: esko.torsti@ilmarinen.fi
Arne Andreasen, Investment Manager, ATP Real Estate
Tel: +45 33 36 61 54
E-mail: ara@atp-realestate.dk
Andrea Attisani, Portfolio Manager, Real Estate, ABP Investments
Tel: +31 20 40 53117
E-mail: andrea.attisani@abpinvestments.nl
About Aberdeen
Aberdeen Property Investors is the specialised property division of Aberdeen Asset Management plc, a global investment management group listed on the London Stock Exchange and managing over €100 billion of assets. Aberdeen Property Investors manages some EUR 10 billion in property investments through property funds and management mandates. The division has some 500 employees at offices in ten European countries. Clients are primarily institutional investors such as life and pension funds. Aberdeen was named the leading real estate Investment Manager Globally, in Western Europe and Nordic & Baltic regions in the Euromoney Awards 2006 for Excellence in Real Estate.
About Ilmarinen
Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Company is responsible for the statutory earnings-related pension security of employees and self-employed persons and the investment assets that cover future pensions. In 2005, Ilmarinen’s premiums written totalled EUR 2.3 billion and the company paid out EUR 2.0 billion in pensions. At the end of June 2006 the total market value of Ilmarinen's investments was about EUR 21 billion. Ilmarinen is responsible for the pension cover of 650,000 people. The company’s share of the market is about one third. More information at: www.ilmarinen.fi
About ABP
Investments ABP is the pension fund for employers and employees in service of the Dutch government and the educa-tional sector. All of its 2.6 million customers have the assurance of income security against the following events: disability, death and pension. ABP’s main office is in Heerlen (Southern part of the Netherlands). Office branches can be found in Amsterdam and New York and Hong Kong. With an invested capital of over 200 billion euros, ABP is the third largest pension fund in the world. It is ABP’s objective to be in a position to guarantee for its fund participants an adequate pension at all times at the lowest possible premiums. ABP Investments aims to meet these objectives through achievement of the highest possible real return on invested capital, while taking well-considered risks.
About ATP Real Estate
ATP (Arbejdsmarkedets Tillægspension) is a labour market supplementary pension scheme and the largest pension fund in Denmark. ATP Real Estate is responsible for ATP’s indirect real estate investment program. www.atp-realestate.dk
Issued and approved by Aberdeen Asset Managers Limited, on behalf of Aberdeen Property Investors, authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.