June 12, 2019
As part of its real estate investment policy, Harmonie Mutuelle, a mutual insurance company and member of the Vyv group, has allocated €8 million to Mata Capital's two core+ funds: MCF Quality Street (real estate assets located in Paris) and MCF Retail High Income (local and peripheral retail properties located in prime areas in France).
This announcement is part of Harmonie Mutuelle group's new real estate investment policy. Launched in 2018, this strategy pursues a dual objective: to streamline its real estate portfolio and to invest the proceeds from sales into real estate funds. Within four years, Harmonie Mutuelle aims to invest €100 million in real estate, representing 10% of its financial assets.
In total, for 2018, the mutual insurance company chose to entrust a global envelope of €12 million dedicated to real estate investment to five French asset management companies.
"Our goal is to diversify our asset allocation and financial return sources by shifting more towards investment real estate, while transforming our current real estate portfolio, which primarily consists of operational buildings," explains Aurélien Bon, Financial Director at Harmonie Mutuelle. "To achieve this, we decided to invest in securities or funds. We want to transform our operational real estate to feed a real estate allocation, the majority of which will be geared towards income-generating products. The challenge is to capture illiquidity premiums to boost the financial returns of our investments."
Following a tender process organized by the consulting firm Hexagone Conseil, the selection of asset management companies was based on numerous criteria, such as the experience and track record of the management teams, the funds' performance, and the managers' conviction regarding their investment themes. The integration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors and the real estate asset management policy of the selected company were also decisive in choosing the various partners.
"Mata Capital's team caught our attention due to its robust asset management policy, its vision for each real estate asset in the portfolio, and its potential for value creation within the local and global economic context," emphasizes Stanislas Muel, Director of Real Estate and Living Spaces at Harmonie Mutuelle. "We also paid close attention to the strategy for transforming real estate assets to enhance their value over time."
"This partnership showcases our expertise in selecting and enhancing the value of real estate assets through dynamic management, always focused on value creation, which is the true DNA of our company," commented Édouard Baduel, Director of Development and Investor Relations at Mata Capital. "The proximity and commitment of our on-the-ground teams are also essential to ensure market-beating performance."
ESG factors and sustainable development challenges were also central to the selection process for asset management companies. "We have 100% ESG-covered management," highlights Aurélien Bon. "As a player in the mutual sector, we are therefore particularly sensitive to the ESG approach of the asset management companies we work with." A signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), Mata Capital, for example, has implemented performance indicators tailored to its funds to monitor its ESG performance over time.