Cording Real Estate Group, the Northern European real estate investment and asset management firm, today announces the launch of the £400 million Cording UK Residential Investment Fund that will invest in the private rented sector (PRS) on behalf of Continental European investors.

The fund has been launched with equity commitments of £100 million from German institutional investors. Cording is expecting to raise an additional £150 million of equity commitments from Continental European institutional investors. Using leverage, the fund will have £400 million to create a diversified portfolio of PRS assets in the coming four years, delivering sustainable income distributions over a long-term holding period. The fund aims to deliver to its investors a net income return of more than 5% per annum.

The fund can enter into forward commitment and forward funding agreements.  It will also have the ability to acquire completed PRS investments which are fully leased. The fund has a strong pipeline of investment opportunities and expects to transact on its first two deals shortly.

Using a unique and comprehensive research approach, Cording focusses on the lower-to-mid end of the market and has identified a number of regional cities and Greater London locations where demand for rented accommodation is forecast to stay strong and supply is constrained.

John Partridge, Chairman of Cording, said:

“We are delighted with the support shown by our investors towards our PRS team and our vertically-integrated approach, providing in-house development management, portfolio management, asset management, leasing and property management.”

The open-ended fund is domiciled in Luxembourg in the form of a SCSp SICAV RAIF. Pancura S.A. is the Alternative Investment Fund Manager and Aztec Group is the Central Administrator. Cording was advised by Clifford Chance in Luxembourg and Frankfurt.