The mandates mark the successful transformation of the retail fund in recent years. This involved moving away from retail properties in smaller cities and developing a new strategy focused on dominant neighborhood shopping centers and retail properties in the nine strongest city centers in the Netherlands. Moreover, with the acquisition of two retail portfolios last year, the fund grew to a size of almost EUR 1 billion. 

Retail market is picking up 

“We see the retail market in the best Dutch inner cities picking up despite the economic uncertainties,” says fund manager Peter Koppers. “Vacancy rates in inner cities are falling due to increased demand from new entrants and expanding retail chains. In addition, we are seeing many transformations to other functions.” 

Protection against inflation 

In the Dutch retail sector, leases are often indexed with inflation. Koppers: “With that, they can follow inflation much better than other real estate sectors. Now that market rents are stable, or even growing, the retail sector is expected to offer investors protection against rising inflation. Retail real estate currently has high cash flow returns compared to other real estate sectors, while the risks in the Netherlands are greatly reduced. Strong declines in value due to rising interest rates are less likely than other segments due to higher initial yields.” 

You can now read the full press release at the link below