FINANCE: AXA Real Estate has raised €1.5bn (£1.1bn) for a new commercial real estate fund, taking its total real estate funds commitment to €10bn.
The capital marks a first close for the Commercial Real Estate Senior 9 fund, which has a final target of €2.5bn.
AXA RE will invest in senior real estate debt on behalf of third-party institutional investors, mostly in the form of pension and insurance funds.
At final close, the fund is expected to be the largest senior loan fund in Europe.
With real estate debt providing yields well in excess of the more traditional government and equity investments, the sector has become more attractive to institutional investors.
AXA RE claims the fund has attracted two new clients out of the nine already invested in the fund. This follows a €250m mandate from a Dutch insurance company in late 2014.
The debt platform at AXA RE now has €3.7bn in commitments across its funds.
