Corporate Overview
Swiss Life Asset Managers1 has more than 165 years of experience in managing the assets of the Swiss Life Group. This insurance background has exerted a key influence on the investment philosophy of Swiss Life Asset Managers, which is governed across our real estate platform by principles such as:
- value preservation,
- the generation of consistent and sustainable performance,
- a responsible approach to risks and opportunities, and
- incorporation of environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects across our investment process.
Our objective is to achieve stable, risk-adjusted investment returns to support our clients to achieve their long-term investment objectives. Given the attractive risk-return profile of the asset class, Swiss Life has committed its balance-sheet capital to real estate for more than 130 years. Swiss Life Asset Managers co-invests with many of its clients, ensuring a strong alignment of interests.
Swiss Life Asset Managers offers this proven approach to third-party clients in Switzerland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the UK and the Nordic countries and increasingly also internationally with more than 1,900 real estate professionals in 26 locations around Europe.
Alongside insurance assets for Swiss Life Group, assets under management total €289.9bn (as at 31 December 2024), with €132.7bn managed for third-party clients.
Swiss Life Asset Managers is a leading institutional real estate investor in Europe2 with €93.4bn invested in real estate. In addition, Swiss Life Asset Managers has real estate worth €22.1bn under administration, held through its subsidiaries Livit (in Switzerland), Swiss Life Asset Managers Germany, BEOS and Swiss Life Asset Managers Nordic. Overall, total real estate under management and administration comes to €115.4bn (as at 31 December 2024). Swiss Life Asset Managers employs over 2,300 people in Europe.
1 Brand name under which the asset management and real estate asset management companies of Swiss Life (in Switzerland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, United Kingdom and Norway) have been operating since 2012; however, Swiss Life Asset Managers itself does not constitute a separate legal entity.
2 #2 IPE Top 150 Real Estate Investment Managers 2024 Ranking Europe, #2 INREV Fund Manager Survey 2024.
Sector forecasts
INDUSTRIAL:
The industrial and logistics sector remains fundamentally well-positioned to ongoing structural changes, with e-commerce and supply chain management serving as key influences for space requirements. Needs-based sectors like grocery, discount retail and sustainable manufacturing are expected to drive demand. Prime rents will continue to rise, though at a more sustainable pace compared to the post-pandemic boom years, with a growing differential between best quality assets and older buildings. Investment activity is expected to remain strong given the prevailing structural tailwinds. Demand for modern, sustainable buildings in infrastructure-anchored locations is growing while older, secondary stock suffers from increasing vacancy. Investors and developers should be focused on specification, sustainability and flexibility to preserve tenant interest and asset performance over the long-term.
OFFICE:
Tenant demand for office space is stabilising across the largest European cities, with a clear focus on only the best quality floor space amid ongoing challenges related to hybrid working and tightening ESG regulations. Tenants and investors remain focused on prime, grade-A assets and space which can provide flexible working spaces, high levels of amenity, in vibrant, well-connected, and mixed-use locations, of which there is little supply. This should underpin prime rental growth, albeit performance is expected to vary significantly between building quality and location, so it will be critical to understand market dynamics when underwriting asset performance.
RESIDENTIAL:
Many European markets suffer from chronic housing shortages, which, coupled with supportive demographic shifts has created a significant supply-demand imbalance. These favourable dynamics continue to drive rental growth which reached unsustainable levels in recent years. New supply is therefore needed, providing an attractive opportunity for development strategies. Meanwhile, core investors should pay close attention to rental levels and affordability when underwriting asset performance. However, the sector overall remains one of investors’ preference, especially given supportive demographics and its countercyclical performance.
RETAIL:
The retail sector has faced significant headwinds related to shifting spending behaviours and spikes in inflation, both dampening in-store consumption. This has contributed to an oversupply of stock and increasing obsolescence risk, particularly across the high street. However, performance of retail across Europe is not homogenous, and some segments, including retail parks and convenience food stores, are delivering robust performance. Understanding market dynamics (supply, demand, local competition, trading performance) are all critical components when appraising opportunities. Lastly, the retail sector is expected to be an early adopter of new technologies, which should help to streamline operations, boost productivity, and enhance customer experience.
OTHERS:
Well-located hotels with an attractive offering for both business and leisure guests are expected to show greatest resilience to operational challenges and offer scope for performance. For the healthcare sector, strong demographic shifts across Europe and the strategy to diversify portfolios into alternative sectors continues to support investor demand.
Investment principles & strategy
The world and the economy are changing and demanding more from the built environment. This has manifested in a shift in the way occupiers use properties, including the lease terms they are seeking. Against this backdrop, we focus on ensuring that our clients’ portfolios reflect this ‘new world’ shaped by globalisation, digitalisation and societal change. For us, managing assets and risks means protecting wealth and increasing long-term earnings potential. Our investment management is based on understanding our clients’ risk and return expectations and accurately reflecting them in our approach to the market. Our main priority is to invest responsibly and act prudently with the assets entrusted to us. Investment decisions are based on in-house research expertise and a rigorous investment process. Therefore, we manage risk actively and perform risk controls systematically on an ongoing basis to monitor the individual portfolios. These controls enable our clients to review risks any time and compliance with the predefined investment process. The aim is to identify risks early so as to avoid or mitigate them, and to exploit opportunities for the benefit of our clients.
Strategic corporate development
Over the past years, Swiss Life Asset Managers has constantly grown its business activities organically and inorganically. We offer comprehensive services across the full real estate value chain with strong local footprints of over 1,900 real estate professionals in 26 offices across Europe.
- Capabilities: Closed and open-ended real estate funds (listed and nonlisted), investment foundations, dedicated mandates and separate accounts, fund of funds, JVs, club deals.
- Sectors: Office, retail, residential, healthcare, hotel/hospitality, student housing, logistics, light industrial and corporate real estate, life sciences, data centres and operational real estate.
- Broad range of investment strategies across the risk/return spectrum with specific focus on well-diversified pan-European core/core-plus or selective value-add capabilities.
- Thematic and sector-focused investment strategies such as European industrial and logistics, healthcare, hotel and leisure.
Swiss Life Asset Managers also acts as a partner for co-investments in Europe.
Performance Verification
Swiss Life Asset Managers has a history of more than 130 years managing real estate and a proven track record across all sectors through different market cycles.
Compliance statement
This publication does not constitute an offer or a recommendation to buy or sell financial instruments, but is provided for information purposes only.
