HUK-COBURG Asset Management GmbH anchor investor with a commitment of at least EUR 50 million
Exclusively senior secured loans up to 75% LTV/LTC
Focus on financing in Germany and the Netherlands
The owner-managed investment manager Aukera Real Estate AG (Aukera), based in Essen, has launched a new pool fund for real estate debt and has already announced its first closing. Structured as a Luxembourg S.C.A. SICAV RAIF, Aukera Real Estate Debt Fund I exclusively grants senior secured loans for office, retail, logistics and residential properties in good locations. The fund will initially focus on financings in Germany and the Netherlands. The potential radius extends to various other markets in Europe. The target volume of the pool fund is EUR 500 million. As anchor investor for its investors, HUK-COBURG Asset Management GmbH (HAM), the outsourced asset management arm of the HUK-COBURG insurance group, is on board with an initial commitment of EUR 50 million. This is the insurance group’s first investment in a real estate debt fund in almost five years.
Lars Armgart, CEO of Aukera, explains: “With our new fund, we offer institutional investors the opportunity to achieve comparatively high returns with low risk at the start of the new real estate cycle. We are delighted to have gained HAM, representing the HUK-COBURG insurance group, as our first capital partner who shares our conviction that the best time to invest in alternative real estate financing is now.” He adds: “Aukera provides the most experienced team in the German market in the field of real estate debt and we are confident that we will be able to build up the portfolio of our new fund quickly. We are focusing on a high degree of diversification in terms of locations and asset classes in order to minimise investment risks further.”
Aukera currently notes a significantly increased demand for real estate debt. Since the beginning of the year, the company has checked 90 relevant transactions with a volume of EUR 2.7 billion. The first transactions are already in the due diligence or in the closing process. Aukera’s management expects at least five investments for the new fund by the end of 2025. The Essen-based investment boutique prefers loan amounts of EUR 10 million to EUR 20 million per financing. As the fund’s investment level increases, financing up to EUR 50 million is also conceivable. Aukera states the typical term of the loans is three to five years.
Fund grants whole loans, including selected bridge financing
The pool fund is targeting institutional investors in German-speaking countries. It expressly does not provide mezzanine capital or preferred equity, does not use back leverage (additional borrowing on the fund structure), but focuses solely on senior secured loans. These are usually whole loans. The fund is particularly open to selected bridge financing such as bridge-to-exit or bridge-to-green. The loan-to-value ratio (LTV/LTC) is up to 75%. Aukera states the target IRR per transaction of 6 to 7.5% p.a., depending on the risk profile of the respective financing. This corresponds to a margin of 350 to 500 basis points above the interest rate swap.
Maximilian Cosack, Head of Private Asset at HAM, says: “After carefully observing the real estate financing market, we conclude that a commitment to Aukera’s fund fits perfectly into our real estate debt portfolio of approx. EUR 700 million AuM. Intense talks with the management of Aukera have created a very stable basis of trust on which we build our commitment. The current market phase at the beginning of the next real estate cycle makes us optimistic to have picked the right asset class and the right fund product from a professional partner at the right time.”
Aukera Real Estate AG:
Aukera Real Estate AG is an independent, owner-managed investment boutique based in Essen. The Aukera investment team launched its first Luxembourg fund in the form of an S.C.A. SICAV-RAIF in summer 2020, followed by a second fund in July 2021. Aukera has received total capital commitments of around EUR 1.6 billion to date. Aukera’s range of services includes tailor-made financing solutions for borrowers and the structuring of suitable investment products for institutional investors. The investment focus is on senior secured real estate loans in Europe.
HUK-COBURG Asset Management GmbH:
HUK-COBURG Asset Management GmbH is the outsourced asset management company of the HUK-COBURG insurance group. HAM currently manages assets worth more than EUR 42 billion. Of this, more than EUR 700 million is managed in real estate debt with a focus on the European market.
