The Generali Group (Generali) announces today the launch of Axis Retail Partners, a new real estate boutique focusing on shopping centre investments. The joint venture has been set up in JV with Florencio Beccar & Toby Smith, two seasoned professionals with a strong track record.
The vehicle, Axis Retail Partners, is a JV with Generali holding a controlling stake of 51% through Generali Investments Holding S.p.A. The other partners are Florencio Beccar who was head of retail for CBRE GI and Toby Smith, who held the position of portfolio manager at CBRE GI’s European shopping centre fund.
According to Generali, «the continental European shopping centre sector continues to be marked by solid fundamentals and offers an interesting entry point due to the current market juncture»
Over the last ten years, shopping centre investments have accounted for an annual average of ca. € 20 billion within the retail real estate space in Europe. A first dedicated fund – Generali Shopping Centre Fund*, whose portfolio management will be delegated to Generali Real Estate S.p.A. SGR – is expected to be launched in the second quarter of 2019 (upon completion of the relevant authorization process).
The business model will be based on the strong alignment of interests between future clients and the investment manager, with Axis Retail Partners advising Generali Real Estate S.p.A. SGR on the investment selection and asset management of the fund.
Generali will initially invest € 500 million into the fund, which will be open to third party clients as well. It will invest in high quality, core, and dominant shopping centres across continental Europe, with an annual target total return of 7%.
*Full name: Generali Shopping Centre Fund S.C.S. SICAV-SIF.
