German insurer Gothaer has set up a fund to invest its balance-sheet capital in childcare property.
The first investments are scheduled for October with a target volume of 鈧�100m.
Gothaer said it was 鈥渁n excellent opportunity for diversification with stable yields at low volatility of rent and capital value鈥�.
The investments will also support the construction of new nursery facilities. Gothaer said there was a projected shortfall of 600,000 Kindergarten places until 2025.
In Germany, all children from the age of three have a right to a place in a Kindergarten before entering school, although it is not mandatory.
鈥淭his fund has a very low correlation to other asset classes,鈥� said Markus Habbig, head of real estate at Gothaer Asset Management.
Gothaer Asset Management, which manages around 鈧�30bn for the Gothaer group and other third parties including pension funds, set up the Spezialfonds 鈥渟olely for the group鈥檚 own books鈥�.
Gothaer has 鈧�3.5bn of assets and 8.4% of this is in the form of real estate. 鈥淲e want to increase that to 10% by 2020,鈥� said Habbig.
Gothaer Asset Management is working with E&G Funds & Asset Management.
Gothaer is the latest in a growing number of European institutional investors to add 鈥渟ocial infrastructure鈥� to its portfolio.
Over the summer, Franklin Templeton issued a social infrastructure fund with social impact objective as well as financial return targets.
At the beginning of the year the High-Level Task Force of the European Long-Term Investors Association issued a report titled 鈥�.
