Gert Waltenbauer

In the challenging market environment of 2021, KGAL Group succeeded in setting a record with its transactions across its asset classes real estate, sustainable Infrastructure and aviation.

Simultaneously, investors seeded newly launched funds such as KGAL Wohnen Core 3 and KGAL ESPF 5 with €800 million of new equity. The total investment volume managed by the KGAL Group increased from €15.2 to €16.5 billion euros.

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy and capital markets waned over the course of 2021. However, for institutional investors challenges have by no means diminished. Inflation has been rising, real yields remain deeply negative and a tightening of monetary policy appears imminent. "In this environment, bonds represent a risk with almost no return, while stock market volatility has increased substantially," explains Gert Waltenbauer, chief executive of KGAL.

He added: "In contrast, we at KGAL are once again securing attractive, stable cash flows for our investors as a result of the numerous acquisitions over the past year. Furthermore, real assets can offer protection against (pictured) inflation, for example through indexed rents in Real Estate or rising energy prices in Sustainable Infrastructure."

Today, securing commitments for new funds depends not only on their risk-reward profile, but increasingly on having convincing ESG propositions. Mr Waltenbauer continued: "Sustainability is now often at the top of the agenda when talking to investors. We expressly welcome this development."