The investment division of Axa, the giant French insurer, is to spend more on property in Britain as part of its plans to redress a post-Brexit imbalance in its portfolio.
Isabelle Scemama, global head of Axa Investment Management’s real estate assets, added that if the opportunity arose, it would consider building another skyscraper in London, such as 22 Bishopsgate, which Axa built and runs on behalf of a consortium of international investors. When asked whether she would want to take on a similar project, she said: “Yes, we could.”
Speaking at Mipim, the annual property conference in Cannes, she said: “Letting 62 storeys in the centre of London, with Brexit and then Covid — it’s bad luck for an office building of that size. But [it’s] 80 per cent-let and continues to generate traction.
“The lesson is that, whatever the backdrop, there is a lack of these types of prime premises that can accommodate the needs of tenants.”
Axa owns property worth about £8 billion in the UK, from skyscrapers to shopping centres. Of its wider European portfolio, Scemama said that its exposure to Britain was “underweight”, in part because of the uncertainty created by Brexit. However, she expected that to be rebalanced over the coming years as the investment powerhouse steps up its spending in the country.
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“The UK is the biggest market in Europe and the most transparent,” Scemama said. “The good news is that we are underweight in the UK so we could do more. We are going to increase [our exposure to] the UK and so we are reviewing a lot of opportunities.”
About a third of Axa’s portfolio is given over to offices, but it is also looking to invest heavily in newer, higher-growth sectors, such as data centres, logistics and laboratories. Residential schemes also “make perfect sense” for Axa, Scemama said.
However, she said that she had not told her team that they must invest a certain amount by a certain time: “The UK will represent an important part of our capital deployment over the next few years — but I don’t know if it will happen in 2022, 2023 or 2024. We want to maintain flexibility and wait for the best opportunities.”
