JULY / AUGUST 2013
know really well.” No hot new destinations in South East Asia and South America then? “We invested in Zagreb and we have been active for over 20 years in Belgrade, but that is about as far as it goes.” Is he worried that by being so
useable space – yet managed by a headquarters team of only 30. Friedrich Wachernig is a key
part of that team with far-ranging duties. He is responsible for project management, asset management, legal and compliance, organisation, IT, HR and operations in South East Europe (SEE), Central East Europe (CEE) and Austria itself. He is a busy man. That’s why, having missed each other several times, we chatted in the back of a taxi! Friedrich was born in 1966.
He has a raft of qualifications including two MBAs and joined S IMMO in 2007. In hindsight, not the best time to join a property investment company, but S IMMO has boomed, emerging from the crisis in a strong position. “We had an exceptionally good 2012 and an even better Q1 2013. We expect over the next five years to become the most important player in our market.“ It goes back to the stereotype: if I told you that the directors of S IMMO made their investment decisions by rolling dice while stoned, would you believe me? Of course not. S IMMO makes decisions based on logical analysis and solid evidence. In Austria balance and stability
are respected. Austria is governed by coalition, it’s one of the world’s
few neutral countries and one of its wealthiest. S IMMO’s slogan, Weil die Realitat Zahit (Grounded in Reality), encapsulates its approach. “We have acquired a balanced portfolio of properties: residential property, offices, hotels and other commercial properties,” says Friedrich. “We make money for our investors not only by buying and selling these properties but also by their shrewd management.”
We expect to become the most important player
Where do their funds come
from? “We have two core investors – the Erste Group and Vienna Insurance Group – plus a small number of other institutional investors. But we are proud to have 26,000 smaller private investors entrusting their money to us. They make up 70% of our total investment funds.”
Where are they investing? “We
value stability, in the main cities in Germany and Austria and some of the capital cities in Central Europe. We invest in markets we
focused, S IMMO is missing out opportunities? “There are great opportunities everywhere. We believe we will find more value for our investors by using our detailed local knowledge to make the best possible investments in the areas we know well. We will get fewer unpleasant surprises this way. “We can add special value by recognising and using natural property cycles that occur in all markets. At the moment, we are focusing and concentrating our investments in retail and office space, except in Germany, where we still see residential opportunity. Germans, particularly Berliners, are starting to buy their own homes. The whole market dynamic is changing there. Germany is becoming more like Vienna. We see great opportunity there.” What about Russian and Asian
investors? “We are seeing buyers from South East Asia but it is not, at the moment, a large part of our market. The Russians are mainly buying trophy properties to show off their extraordinary wealth.” Does S IMMO always hold its
assets over the long term? “We tend to buy with a view to holding long term but, if short term opportunities arise, we take them. At the moment, we are selling some assets we bought in 2006 for €600/m2
, for €2,000/m2 . This
was too good to resist. We will sell and reinvest if we think that this will produce better long term performance for our investors.” How do they do all this with an
HQ staff of only 30? “Efficiency,” says Friedrich. Of course. Don’t you love stereotypes? So the old fashioned way – professional qualifications, deep knowledge of the market, buying long term and seeking stability – still seems to work. It could also give investors a less scary ride than some of the high return opportunities now being pushed in the market.
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