Empira Group, an investment and asset manager for institutional real estate investments focused on the DACH region, recently appointed Edward Berry as managing director and head of its new London office.

International Investment spoke to Berry (pictured) to find out more about the company's plans and professional connections to reach its goals in two key target markets. 

Why now to enter the UK market?

We continue to see compelling investment opportunities across the capital structure in our key investment markets of the DACH region and the US. We believe that there is strong demand for real assets generally, and sustainable residential in particular, and that there is appetite from UK investors to access these regions.

Who will you be targeting? 

The breadth of EMPIRA's platform means our products have suitability for the whole range of institutional investors. We are seeing strong interest from insurers for our senior debt products, from pension schemes for our develop-and-hold strategies and from family offices for our opportunistic strategies.

What professional connections do you have already in place? 

From my 14-year career in UK institutional client relations I have a broad network of investors across corporate pension schemes, the LGPS, and consultant organisations.

What types of real estate opportunities are you targeting, and where?

In RE debt we lend across residential and commercial space with a strong focus on the DACH region. In terms of RE equity our focus is residential. Within that sphere, our vertical integration and broad platform allows us to make investments ranging from Value-add to Opportunistic. 

A key focus area for us in 2022 is develop-and-hold residential across both the DACH region and the US. In both regions we see significant pent-up rental demand, and consequent opportunity for our investors.

On a medium to long term view, paint me a picture of how you would like the business to develop?

We believe the two regions we invest in are amongst the most attractive in global RE space. Both are underpinned by a strong legal framework, favourable supply/demand characteristics and pricing that is advantageous compared to other markets. 

We would like to enable international investors, including those in the UK, to access these markets. 

Equally important for us as an organisation, as well as our investors, is to make a lasting positive impact. As such we are rigorous in ensuring sustainability is embedded throughout our investment process.