SINGAPORE, June 4 (Reuters) - Allianz Real Estate sees an opportunity to expand its asset allocation in Asia to 10-15% in the medium term, the investment manager's regional head said after it agreed to buy a A$648 million ($447 million) Australian logistics portfolio with a joint venture.
"We still believe in the long-term potential of the region. The important thing is how do you navigate through the next 24-36 months and the investment that we make has to be able to reflect that," the company's Asia Pacific CEO Rushabh Desai told Reuters on Thursday.
Allianz Real Estate had 5.5 billion euros ($6.16 billion) of assets under management in Asia Pacific as of end-2019, or about 7.5% of its global total.
"We are trying to look at maybe, over the mid-term, 10-15% as a target allocation," Singapore-based Desai said.
About 40-45% of the firm's Asian portfolio was in the fast-growing markets of China, India and Southeast Asia and the remainder in developed markets, he said.
Allianz Real Estate, part of German insurance giant Allianz ALVG.DE , is one of the world's largest property investors and has been looking to grow in Asia mainly as a diversification strategy.
On Thursday, an equal joint venture of Allianz Real Estate and Australian property investor Charter Hall Group's fund CPIF, agreed to acquire four distribution centres from supermarket chain ALDI in Australia.
The assets, located in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, were sold to the joint venture with seven-year lease backs and multiple seven-year renewal options.
($1 = 1.4503 Australian dollars) ($1 = 0.8929 euros)