GERMANY – The €55bn German pension fund Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK) has awarded a €500m global real estate mandate to LaSalle Investment Management in a bid to diversify its exposure to the asset class.

BVK, the Bavarian umbrella pension scheme for self-employed professionals, has hired LaSalle to target property types across various geographies, capital structures and risk profiles.

Norman Fackelmann, head of property investment management at BVK, said the mandate would "complement our existing core portfolio and help to diversify it further".

BVK already invests in real estate through a number of mandates, including a pan-European core strategy managed by Invesco Real Estate, and a global fund-of-funds strategy managed by UBS Global Asset Management.

Claus Thomas, international director at LaSalle Investment Management, said: "We are thrilled to have been entrusted with the assignment to help BVK build upon its already stellar real estate portfolio."

He said LaSalle was "seeing attractive opportunities" in Asia, notably Japan, and Canada, Australia and the US.