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Henderson Global Investors is targeting further growth of its retail asset management activities in the Nordics after recruiting Anna Sjöberg to strengthen its Swedish team.

´We now have a team on board that is fully equipped to do this work. We hope to grow organically and get more mandates,´ Johan Åström, head of property Sweden, told PropertyEU.

After entering the Nordics as an investor in 2007, Henderson set up a Nordic platform in early 2012. Åström joined the Stockholm-based business early last year.

Henderson's Swedish asset management team is active on the ground in development and leasing, Åström noted. ‘We have initiated two development projects involving the expansion of existing assets.’

One of the development projects revolves around a shopping centre in Gothenburg which Henderson owns through Herald, its pan-European retail fund. Last year the company submitted a request for the expansion of the retail site - Kållered Köpstad which is located in the municipality of Mölndal / to double the current retail offering to 64,000 m2. The aim is to deliver a hybrid retail scheme which will build on the site’s strong location and catchment area.

Elsewhere in Sweden at Tuna Park in Eskilstuna, Henderson has agreed with the municipality to initiate an investigation into the possible development of an additional 12,000 m2 to the 16,000 m2 centre. Åström hopes to get the planning permit by mid-2014. Both projects are scheduled for completion in 2016.

In the past six months, the Swedish team has also signed approximately 8,000 m2 across the Nordic portfolio including a long-term lease for 2,300 m2 of retail space in Löddeköpinge, a 19,000 m2 retail park in Malmö. Reconfiguration of the tenant mix and consumer marketing has led to a higher increase of sales and footfall, Åström said. ‘That has significantly increased the current net operating income for one of our Warburg - Henderson funds.’

According to Stefan Wundrak, director of research property at Henderson Global Investors, Sweden is particularly attractive for retail property investment. ‘In terms of its demographic health, it is one of the top European countries. Stockholm is still growing, by 20,000 inhabitants per year.’

Other major cities including Gothenburg and Malmö are performing well too, he added. ‘There’s a band of 15 cities that are growing, only cities in the northern region are not.’ While the Swedish and Danish currencies are pegged to the euro, Finland is actually part of the eurozone, Wundrak pointed out: ‘Finland attracts investors from the eurozone as there are no currency issues.’