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Specialist for German Retail Real Estate
Company: ILG Capital GmbH Contact: Dr Jan Friske, Managing Partner Email: j.friske@ilg-gruppe.de Address: Poccistrasse 11, 80336 Munich, Germany Phone +49 89 88 96 98 – 0 Mobile +49 152 5460 7887 Website: www.ilg-gruppe.de
The ILG Group was established in 1980 and has more than 30 years’ experience in retail real estate asset management. Managing Partners, Florian Lauerbach & Dr Jan Friske, tell us about the variety of clients that the Group deals with, and about the exciting times ahead. Within ILG’s market segment of German Retail Real Estate Assets, the company is the Specialist for German Retail Real Estate. The firm offers the entire range of services for managing the whole value chain around retail real estate assets, mainly fund, asset, property & centre management. Interestingly, ILG does not only manage assets, but positions its assets as leading trade locations in their relevant markets. Dr Friske provides us with an overview of the company, including its diverse client base and members of staff. “Here at ILG, we have over 70 people located in six hubs in Germany securing superior servicing of our assets. Our senior management members are co-owners of the company resulting in maximal congruence of our clients and our own interests. Currently, assets under management in our specific market segment exceed €1.2 bn. Our occupancy level of all our managed assets exceeds 99%.”
Working within such a competitive industry as German Retail Real Estate, the company must differentiate itself from its competitors and ensure that it offers the best possible service for clients. Lauerbach is keen to highlight that the company’s focus is on retail real estate assets and it is this specialisation, which really helps it to distinguish itself from others. “Crucial to our success is that we are differentiating ourselves by fully dedicating all our efforts on a very specific segment of the real estate market, German Retail Real estate assets. This specialisation helps to fully understand our market, its dynamics, trends & challenges. “As an example, a lot of our retail tenants are facing huge challenges for their business models. These challenges have a clear impact on their demand for space, their willingness and capacity to pay their rents etc. With our full dedication and on-the-ground-coverage of our assets with our own team, we achieve a thorough understanding of our tenants’ needs, their performance and where we have to address issues in our tenant rent roll. Thus, we can identify risks at a very early stage and are able to manage these risks in a very efficient manner. Vice versa, we are able to select superior business models and are able to maximise the attractiveness of our tenant base as well as our assets’ market positioning. Our strategy has created a 30-year track record with very attractive investment performances.” Discussing the internal culture and working environment within ILG, Dr Friske comments on the dynamic team at his disposal and how there is no hierarchy with everyone treated equally. “Basically, we are an owner-run company. Our company is characterised by flat hierarchies and short decision lines. This, combined with the continuous strive for optimisation and specialisation creates a very dynamic team. Our culture makes us feel like we are a family. To
30 Wealth & Finance International - October 2017
cultivate this even as we are growing we have a high focus on coming together at least monthly through a range of internal events. We have a system offering clear incentives for everybody who makes a contribution, and thus manage to always maintain a high level of motivation on all levels.” Integral to its success is also ILG’s approach to work on projects, as Dr Friske alludes to. No stone is left unturned as the team pays close attention to detail with regard to the client and the projects at hand. “Fundamentally, we are covering the full value chain of managing retail real estate assets. We focus on making realistic judgments on risk and chances of each single asset. Doing so we execute a thorough initial due diligence on each asset which results are constantly monitored and adjusted. With a thorough understanding of each asset and its relevant local market environment we are able to maximise returns and are able to achieve superior occupancy rates. Our portfolio occupancy level is currently at 99%.” Signing off, Lauerbach outlines the overall mission of the company, listing what steps ILG plans to take in order to reach the targets the team has set itself. “Overall, our mission is to be the leading manager for German Retail Real estate. We aim to achieve this ambition by following the values that have led to our ongoing success, such as specialisation on a specific market segment, rather than covering various real estate segments, and covering the full value chain of managing retail real estate assets. Finally, in order to have full dedication of our senior management and our team, and we will make senior managers co-owners of ILG group companies securing maximal congruence of investors’ and own interests.”