Commerz Real welcomes the planned Future Financing Act, the draft of which was adopted by the Federal Cabinet on 16 August 2023. As the tangible assets subsidiary of Commerzbank announced, the draft is an important step towards the energy transition in Germany and a milestone in the further development of the open-end real estate fund asset class. For the first time, the bill provides that open-end real estate funds may invest up to 15 per cent of their volume in installations for the production, transport or storage of electricity or heat from renewable energies. In addition, the funds should be allowed not only to acquire these investments, but also to operate them themselves. Both have not been possible until now. Commerz Real sees great market potential. For example, the German open-ended real estate funds could invest more than 19 billion euros in wind and solar farms as well as other renewable energy plants with a total of 131 billion euros currently under management.

“If the law is also passed in legislative form, we will use our many years of expertise in the field of renewable energies to exploit the new opportunities for us as quickly as possible,” says Mario Schüttauf, fund manager of the hausInvest open-ended real estate fund at Commerz Real. Commerz Real has been investing in solar energy since 2005 and also in wind turbines and other energy infrastructure segments since 2016. The company currently manages more than 50 solar power plants and over 40 onshore and offshore wind farms in Germany and Europe with a total rated output of around 1.5 gigawatts for private and institutional investors.

“In the medium to long term, our goal is to supply the properties in the portfolio with electricity ourselves,” Schüttauf emphasises. This could then be offered to tenants at favourable conditions, which in turn would increase the attractiveness of the properties for potential users and could have a positive impact on the valuation. “And our investors will ultimately benefit from this,” Schüttauf is sure.