(LONDON) – The Hines European Core Fund (HECF) has been recognized as one of the top property funds in Europe, achieving the MSCI European Property Investment Award for the best performing European balanced fund.
The MSCI European Property Investment Awards provide an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the top-performing funds across the real estate investment landscape. The award honors the most successful fund for a three-year period and is based on external valuations and auditors review of accounts. HECF achieved a total return of 8.45% p.a. during 2017-2019, 211 bps above the average return of the benchmark, making it one of the best performing property funds in Europe.
This award is the latest recognition of HECF’s success, having been named the most sustainable fund in Europe of all diversified portfolios and Global Sector Leader in Real Estate Assessment by GRESB for an unprecedented third consecutive year in September 2019.
Peter Epping, Senior Managing Director at Hines and Fund Manager for HECF, said: “As HECF continues to diversify into new sectors and city markets, we’re pleased to have been recognized as one of the best performing funds by MSCI. The fund has achieved significantly higher returns than the benchmark and we look forward to building on this momentum. Our market selection and portfolio management have been highlighted as key to our growth, and our sustainable management policies and innovative approach have ensured we are able to provide strong returns for our investors. We’re pleased that HECF’s stand out performance, and the exceptional work of our teams on the ground, continues to be recognized as award-winning.”
About Hines
Hines is a privately owned global real estate investment firm founded in 1957 with a presence in 225 cities in 25 countries. Hines has approximately $144.1 billion of assets under management, including $75.5 billion for which Hines serves as investment manager, including non-real estate assets, and $68.6 billion for which Hines provides third-party property-level services. The firm has 165 developments currently underway around the world. Historically, Hines has developed, redeveloped or acquired 1,426 properties, totaling over 472 million square feet. The firm’s current property and asset management portfolio includes 576 properties, representing over 246 million square feet. With extensive experience in investments across the risk spectrum and all property types, and a pioneering commitment to sustainability, Hines is one of the largest and most-respected real estate organizations in the world.
Since entering Europe in 1991, Hines has grown its European platform to include offices in 16 cities as well as a presence in 55 cities in 13 countries, with €22.7 billion of assets under management, including €19.8 billion for which Hines serves as an investment manager and €2.9 billion for which Hines provides third-party property-level services, in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Visit www.hines.com for more information.
About the Hines European Core Fund (HECF)
The Hines European Core Fund was set up in 2006 with the aim of providing investors with a resilient income profile derived from a diversified portfolio of high-quality assets located in inner-city locations across major European cities.
The Fund combines disciplined sustainable management policies with a risk-adjusted return profile and has been awarded the European leadership in the GRESB ranking for three years while delivering an average net total return of 9.0% between 2015 and 2019, with an income return of 3.5%.
As of Q1 2020 the HECF portfolio was 99.4% occupied with an aggregate value in of c.ca €1.6bn. The portfolio of the Fund is currently composed of 23 assets invested in 15 city markets across eight different European countries.
The Fund has continually improved asset-level performance of buildings by working in close collaboration with the local Hines teams and property managers and engaging tenants in a variety of ways. An example of this has been the drive to optimize the energy consumption of the buildings, resulting in a 12% reduction in like-for-like consumption since 2016. The total return of 8.4% achieved in 2018 illustrates that sustainability improvements could also be combined with strong performance for Fund’s investors.
