UBS Asset Management has won the mandate to manage the first pan-European real estate investments of Italian insurer Poste Vita.
Poste Vita has committed an initial 鈧�300m 鈥� which could be extended to 鈧�500m 鈥� to invest in core euro-zone office markets.
Asset Management saw off competition from as many a large roster of companies, according to Poste Vita鈥檚 head of real estate Marco Plazzotta.
鈥淲e selected UBS-AM following a competitive request for proposal from 150 international real estate asset managers,鈥� said Plazzotta, who joined Poste Vita in 2014 from Allianz Real Estate Italy to head up a real estate investments platform from Rome.
A low interest-rate environment, he said, meant the Poste Vita was diversifying its portfolio to include international real estate.
The UBS-Diamond Eurozone Offices fund (UBS-DEO) will focus on new or recently developed offices with high occupancy and secured by long-term leases.
Prime locations within the top 10 to 15 cities in the euro-zone are being targeted, with assets ranging in size from 鈧�50m to 鈧�100m. Leverage will be kept under 30%.
Marco Doglio, head of UBS Global Real Estate in Italy, said Florian Kutz, former head of the Nordic region, will relocate from Frankfurt to Milan.
As reported in , Poste Vita was close to awarding a mandate to invest in European real estate for the first time.
The institution has been looking to invest via an indirect, tailored fund-based strategy in euro-zone properties since early 2015.
Poste Vita could allocate as much as 3% to the asset class, IPE Real Estate reported .
