Edmond de Rothschild REIM has appointed Martijn Vlasveld as managing director – head of ESG.
Vlasveld, who will be based in the group’s Amsterdam office, joins from CBRE Global Investors, where he was director, portfolio management and head of sustainability for the Netherlands.
He previously worked for ING Real Estate and has been involved with industry bodies such as the Dutch Green Building Council and the International Council for Shopping Centres.
Vlasveld will be responsible for the integration and implementation of the sustainability strategy in all the company’s products and the investment and asset management processes and for harmonising data collection to produce consistent reporting. He will also lead the approach related to net zero carbon objectives.
Nuveen Real Estate has announced plans to enter the UK affordable senior housing sector.
The investment manager, on behalf of US pensions group TIAA General Account, has formed a joint venture with Preferred Homes Limited, a registered provided of affordable housing formed by UK investment manager Ashbourne Capital Partners.
The joint venture has identified three locations across the UK where there is a significant undersupply of senior housing. The venture will develop, own and manage affordable retirement living, which Nuveen said would contribute to the regeneration of town centres, as well as reducing the cost burden on local government for providing care services.
Bill Bateman, managing director for European housing strategies at Nuveen, said: “This emerging sector which offers huge scalability potential in the UK. With an increasingly ageing population and acute affordable housing shortage, Nuveen is looking to provide long-term, impact-driven investment strategies which deliver risk adjusted returns as well as creating social value.”
The Pension Real Estate Association, (PREA) announced the winners of the 2022 PREA Real Estate Investment Management ESG Awards at its Spring Conference in Beverly Hills on March 23.
This is the second year of ESG awards from the US real estate funds trade association, with awards in five categories. Greg MacKinnon, director of research at PREA, said: "Society is built on real estate and to be successful as an investment in the long run, real estate needs to reflect the broader needs and concerns of society.
“All of the 2022 winners of our ESG awards show that, appropriately designed, a real estate investment program can have significant positive impacts on society and the communities in which it operates, while at the same time providing competitive investment performance. At PREA, we are proud to recognize these real estate investment managers at the vanguard of incorporating ESG considerations into their investment strategies."
LA-based SoLa is focused on providing affordable housing in black and brown communities in the US. Martin Muoto, CEO of SoLa Impact, said: "SoLa Impact is demonstrating that when it comes to social returns and financial results, we don't have to choose one or the other—you can do well by doing good.”
The Hines European fund has more than €2 billion of assets under management. Fund manager Simone Pozzato said: "I am confident that our continued efforts to respond to communities' social needs, carbon neutrality and innovation in asset management will create long-lasting impact on the neighbourhoods we serve and to provide benchmark-leading financial performance for our investors."
The London office fund, managed BentallGreenOak, recently announced funding for an all-electric London office project. Ker Gilchrist, Managing Partner for Welput at BGO, said: "Welput continues to challenge the boundaries for what can be achieved to develop sustainable office buildings that will respond to ESG demands now and into the future. I'm delighted by and grateful for the recognition that this award brings to our work, as we remain steadfast in our ambition to make Welput net zero-ready in the short term."
This award recognises industry-leading and innovative approaches to ESG issues among and significant recent advances in ESG outcomes. Jamestown has improved the fund’s ESG performance with a range of measures and increased its commitments to emission reduction.
The social impact award is a new category, won by Turner’s first multifamily fund, which has acquired and preserved thousands of units of affordable workforce housing in cities across the US. It provides homes for workers who do not qualify for subsidised housing but who could not otherwise afford homes near their workplace.
BNP Paribas has launched a new exchange traded fund which tracks the most sustainable listed global real estate companies and investment trusts.
The BNP Paribas Easy FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Developed Green CTB UCITS ETF tracks the eponymous listed real estate index.
The green index consists of those constituents of the parent FTSE EPRA NAREIT Developed Index which score highest on two sustainability considerations: estimated energy usage per square metre and total floor space covered by eligible green certifications. Constituents which violate the UN Global Compact principles are also removed.
In November 2019, BNP Paribas launched a similar ETF based on the FTSE EPRA NAREIT Developed Europe ex UK Green Index, which now has €400 million ($440 million) in assets.
