Catella was founded in 1987 in Sweden and is listed on NASDAQ Stockholm in the Mid Cap segment. The business is run through three business areas with strong synergies: Investment Management, Corporate Finance, and Principal Investments. Catella’s philosophy is to utilise local expertise for sustainable investments and the operations are managed by majority-owned local teams across Europe, providing comprehensive knowledge of property markets.
Catella Investment Management offers institutional investors innovative property funds and other customised indirect structures, asset management, project management (including development), and advisory services. Catella is a leader in sustainable real estate investing including offering true SFDR Article 9 funds. Additionally, Catella opportunistically co-invests with its clients through the Principal Investments business area.
In the investment management business, Catella Asset Management provides a diverse range of services that add value in all phases of a property’s lifecycle across all sectors. This includes identifying and acquiring projects, financing, strategic management (such as implementing decarbonisation plans), and ultimately selling, all with a focus on sustainability.
Catella Investment Management covers investment activities on behalf of global international institutional investors, such as insurance companies, pension funds, property funds, investment funds, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals.
The main centres for Catella Investment Management are:
- Austria – Vienna
- Benelux – Maastricht
- Denmark – Copenhagen
- Finland – Helsinki
- France – Paris
- Germany – Munich (KVG); Berlin (commercial and residential); Düsseldorf (development)
- Spain – Madrid
- Ireland – Dublin
- Sweden – Stockholm
- UK – London and Manchester
Sector forecasts
INDUSTRIAL: The European logistics market has proven to be very robust in a turbulent environment in recent years. High demand and limited supply have resulted in strong rental growth in the corresponding markets. Catella sees continued growth potential in the European logistics market in the coming years, primarily due to ongoing nearshoring activities and further growth in e-commerce. Catella is focusing on the established logistics regions in the large European economies Germany, France, Benelux, the Nordics and the United Kingdom. Catella also sees strong growth potential in the nearshoring hotspots in Poland, Spain, Portugal and Italy.
OFFICE: Current market developments show a clear focus of demand on modern offices in central locations in European major cities. Offices that do not meet these requirements are coming under increasing pressure in the market. Catella expects demand for modern offices in prime locations to remain high in the future. Further increases in prime rents combined with higher vacancy rates can therefore be expected on the European market.
RESIDENTIAL: The European housing markets face a supply gap for residential apartments that has started with sharply declining permit numbers end of 2022 and results in fewer unit completions over the next years – particularly in Central Europe and the Nordics. At the same time, demand for rental housing remains strong, especially in urban areas where population growth and urbanisation trends persist and particularly in the affordable segment. While market activity is unlikely to reach the levels seen until the early 2020s, recent interest rate reductions have modestly revitalised the market, laying the groundwork for positive developments in house prices.
RETAIL: The asset class retail is made up of different components, which are each subject to different impact factors. Catella sees potential in the asset class food retail in particular. In recent years, this asset class has proven to be very resilient to crises as part of the critical infrastructure. The asset class food retail furthermore enables participation in the success of the strong operator market.
OTHER: For other segments, Catella sees potential above all in the asset classes parking, hotel and data centre. Continued high demand for parking facilities in cities is boosting the success of the asset class. The asset class hotel is benefiting from the recovery in travel activities after the pandemic. The rising demand for computing capacity is further increasing the need for data centres in Europe.
Strategic corporate development
Over the past few years, Catella has refined its business to focus entirely on property in three distinct business areas that offer significant synergies. These areas provide investment and asset management, the ability to co-invest with clients, cutting-edge market intelligence, and advisory services. In 2024, Catella announced the strategic merger of the front offices of Catella Residential Investment Management GmbH (CRIM) and Catella Real Estate AG (CREAG), into Catella Investment Management GmbH (CIM), enhancing efficiency and a more robust investment management platform.
Based on a stable financial position, Catella will continue its growth journey and offer capital solutions designed to meet clients’ needs and demands throughout the various stages of an economic cycle, in a spread of geography, assets and opportunities. The broad range of offerings is adaptable to market conditions and includes a clear focus on increasing products with a strong link to sustainability.
Investment principles & strategy
Catella is your sustainable investment partner. In addition to being the right thing to do, Catella philosophically believes in the ‘dual materiality’ of sustainable investing – pursue sustainability objectives not only for the benefit of society, but to achieve financial returns and to create real estate that is resilient and robust to adverse shocks. At Catella, sustainability is an opportunity, not a compliance process.
Performance verification
Catella performance data is regularly reported to our clients in accordance with their requirements. Catella is licensed under Finansinspektionen in Sweden, BaFin in Germany, Autorité des Marchés Financiers in France, and the FCA in the UK. Catella follows reporting standards and procedures of, among others, INREV, BVI, GRESB and CRREM. Catella funds are consistently leading in German Handelsblatt’s fund performance rankings.
COMPLIANCE STATEMENT
The board of directors’ responsibility for internal control is governed primarily by the Swedish Companies Act, Nasdaq Stockholm’s regulatory framework for issuers and the Swedish Corporate Governance Code. Information about Catella’s internal control and risk management system and measures taken by the board of directors to ensure effective internal control is disclosed each year in Catella’s corporate governance statement.
