“Healthcare real estate is now much more accepted” – interview in Vastgoedmarkt
Healthcare real estate is on the rise and Hartelt Fund Management’s Apollo Healthcare Property Fund is no exception. Director Joep Munten sees no end to this trend for the time being.
Hartelt, located in Maastricht and also with offices on the Amsterdam Zuidas, invested in 2019 for more than 30 million euros in healthcare real estate. In doing so, the fund manager is in line with a trend that investor association IVBN has also observed: there is a growing demand for healthcare real estate. International parties, such as the Belgian listed company Aedifica, are also increasingly present in the Dutch market.
Alternative investments
Hartelt started its healthcare real estate fund Apollo in 2016, which focuses purely on Dutch healthcare real estate and invests on behalf of institutional investors in housing as well as in nursing complexes and health centers. Director Joep Munten has notably seen healthcare real estate become more popular as allocation over the past eighteen months. “This is partly because our own fund still had to gain traction, but we have been working on this for some time. Five years ago, healthcare real estate was still really new in alternative investments. In the meantime it has become much more accepted. You no longer have to explain to investors why it is an interesting investment category. ”
Why is it interesting?
“Because aging is a long-term trend. Past returns do not provide certainty for healthcare real estate either, but the risks for this segment can quickly be made concrete and mainly have to do with changing laws and regulations.
How does the return compare to the regular investment categories?
“In Assisted Living, the risk is lower, because it is very similar to ordinary residential investments. We apply a plus on the yield. But we find nursing homes and care complexes also very interesting in terms of return because you are talking about a large number of units per object and because of the long-term lease contracts. Care and treatment centers are somewhat smaller, but often essential in community centers. ”
As an investor in healthcare real estate, do you need to have a feel for that segment?
“As a fund manager, you are primarily looking for good returns for investors. At the same time, healthcare real estate automatically has a large, social component. Recently, together with healthcare minister Hugo de Jonge (CDA), we completed a complex in Heerde, Gelderland, housing people with severe dementia. By investing in a new development, you realize, in addition to a beautiful new building, a place where people can live who cannot live in regular housing (anymore).. Residents feel more comfortable, which reduces the use of medicines. Employees are also happier, which leads to lower absenteeism. Sooner or later everyone will have to deal with it. ”
In 2019, “Apollo” delivered the following developments:
- Nursing complex Hofje Wendakker in Heerde (Gelderland)
- Health center Eudokia in Enschede
- Health center Twekkelerveld in Enschede
- Nursing complex Villa van Oranje in Schiedam
- Health center De Brug in Hengelo
- Health center Sint Jozef in Deventer
- Assisted living complex De Kom in Mijdrecht (Utrecht)
First publication by Robert Paling on Jan 21, 2020 in Vastgoedmarkt
