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BPF Bouwinvest, the property arm of Dutch construction industry pension fund BPF Bouw, plans to develop real estate investment funds for other pension funds and asset managers.

PropertyNL, the sister publication of PropertyEU, reports that the initiative is based on the wish by BPF Bouw, a EUR 24 bn pension fund, to further diversify its real estate activities. About 25% of the pension fund's capital is invested in property, via BPF Bouwinvest, and the pension fund signalled it was shifting its focus from direct to indirect property.

Meanwhile, BPF Bouwinvest, which is a developer, owner and fund manager, wants to grow its business. The company said the demand for defensive investment is growing and real estate can play a major role in this. BPF Bouwinvest is working on the detail of expanding its fund business.

At end-December 2008, BPF Bouwinvest owned 16,500 homes, 290,000 m² of office space, 145,000 m² of retail space and 29,000 m² of other space. The company also had about EUR 1.1 bn in real estate investment funds in Europe, the US and Asia. BPF Bouwinvest's total holdings were valued at EUR 6 bn.