INREV 2009: fundraising to slow dramtically

A poll of fund managers conducted by INREV and presented at its annual conference today revealed that only €6.1 billion($7.96 billion) will be raised in Europe this year by unlisted funds compared to €10.2 billion in 2008.

Equity raised this year will reach just 60 percent of last year's total, according to the findings of a study by INREV, the European Association for Investors in Non-Listed Real Estate Funds.

In a poll of fund managers conducted by the association, €6.1 billion was being planned for the whole of this year, well down on the €10.2 billion corralled in 2008.

The figure was the result of a survey of 54 European fund managers managing core, core-plus, value-added and opportunistic funds, which was highlighted today at INREV's annual conference in Athens.

The research also showed that volumes of capital raised slowed noticeably in the second half of 2008. Of the capital raised so far this year, sixty one percent was raised in the first six months with German fund managers responsible for the most with €2.7 billion, according to the sample.

For the first time in five years, funds received the majority of their equity from repeat investors. INREV said this indicated that investors were looking to allocate capital with managers with whom they had a track record..