Bouwinvest’s Dutch Office Fund Beats IPD’s Multi-Year Annual Property Index

Bouwinvest’s Dutch Office Fund has strongly outperformed the latest benchmark IPD Netherlands Annual Property Index over both three-year and five-year periods. The Office Fund’s average three-year total investment return was 1.1% compared with -0.9% for the benchmark, while its five-year total return was 2.7% versus the index at 0.6%.

The fund’s total returns dipped below the benchmark in 2014 to 1.3% versus 3.3% due to the non-recurring costs of acquiring the Beurs-WTC in Rotterdam and Amsterdam’s Valina asset — as well as the two landmark Citroën office buildings in the city, which should all significantly contribute to the vehicle’s future investment performance.

Bas Jochims, Head of Asset Management Offices at Bouwinvest said: “The strong multi-year outperformance of the Office Fund over IPD’s benchmark Dutch property index is due to a carefully calibrated investment strategy that targets mixed-use assets in diversified prime office locations in the major cities of the Netherlands main Randstad urban conurbation. We optimize these returns through continual monitoring of the performance of individual properties and active buying and selling, as well as intense hands-on asset management in cooperation with tenants and building management partners.”

The average occupancy rate in the portfolio is 90% reflecting the ease of transport accessibility, as well as the quality of the working environment and high sustainability standards of the buildings, which makes them desirable locations for companies. The emphasis on mixed-used and flexible work spaces also insulates the fund against future evolutions in local real estate markets and business sectors, to preserve the value of the assets for Bouwinvest’s institutional investors.