M&G Real Estate has recruited APG’s Martijn Vos to lead its European living expansion.
Vos has been at Dutch investor APG Asset Management for more than 13 years. He managed a €3bn real estate portfolio, having established investment platforms in the hotel, serviced apartment, residential, student housing and retail sectors. He was most recently director of real estate for Europe.
He joins M&G as head of continental European living, based in Amsterdam and reporting to Alex Greaves, head of UK and European living.
Vos will be responsible for driving M&G’s European property fund range, including investment into Europe’s multi-family residential, co-living, student accommodation and senior living. M&G will do this through the acquisition of standing stock and forward funding agreements with developers.
He will work closely with Marc Reijnen, M&G’s head of European investment and asset management. In the past eight months, the UK and European team has collaborated on €358m of deals in France, Italy and the Nordics.
Greaves said: “Martijn’s appointment is a reflection of growing investor demand for alternative assets and the structural shift in demographics and lifestyles underpinning robust, long-term fundamentals for the living sectors. In times of heightened uncertainty, this shift towards the living sector has been recognised by institutional investors for its strong diversification characteristics.
“Despite growing urban populations, housing supply in many markets remains inadequate, both in terms of volume and quality. As people increasingly demand more from where they live, this in turn is fuelling demand for new, quality accommodation.”
M&G launched one of the UK’s first institutional PRS funds in June 2013. The fund now comprises more than £1.2bn in assets. Last year EG reported that M&G was expanding its residential portfolio across three specialist funds, with an affordable vehicle and a European fund on top of the UK .
The fund manager has subsequently raised £215m for its shared ownership ventures, while also growing the European strategy.
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