Oliver Zimper Joins NAS Invest Advisory Board as Firm Launches EUR 100 Million German Commercial Fund

NAS Invest has appointed Oliver Zimper to its newly formed advisory board, adding recognized real estate expertise to the Berlin- and Frankfurt-based property investor and asset manager as it pursues an expanded institutional investment strategy.

Zimper joins fellow advisory board members Dieter Becken and Steffen Ricken, with the three appointed in the second quarter of 2017 to advise NAS Invest's senior management on an ongoing basis. The formation of the advisory board coincided with one of the firm's most active periods of growth, anchored by the launch of a EUR 100 million equity fund targeting German commercial properties.

EUR 100 Million Fund Targets Office and Healthcare Assets

At the center of NAS Invest's 2017 activity is the inception of the BR-NAS German Mittelstand Properties RAIF-SICAV, a Luxembourg-based fund established through a joint venture with BlueRock Group. The fund is designed to give qualified domestic and international investors access to a diversified portfolio of German commercial real estate, with EUR 100 million in equity targeted for office buildings and health centres across Germany's metropolitan regions.

The fund is the first in a new series called German Mittelstand Properties, which focuses on commercial assets serving small and mid-sized enterprises. By structuring the vehicle as an AIFMD-compliant fund, NAS Invest positioned itself to serve not only private wealth managers and high net worth individuals but also institutional investors — a deliberate expansion of its investor base.

The joint venture had already acquired office properties in Dortmund, Wiesbaden, and Berlin for a combined EUR 40 million on behalf of the fund as of mid-2017. At that point, due diligence was already under way on an additional EUR 50 million in potential acquisitions, the firm said.

AUM Reaches EUR 225 Million at Mid-Year

NAS Invest reported EUR 225 million in assets under management as of June 30, 2017. During the first half of the year, the firm completed approximately EUR 200 million in sales while adding EUR 75 million in properties to its portfolio.

The firm's acquisition strategy centers on commercial properties with diversified tenant mixes, which management described as offering a healthy risk-and-return profile and stable cash flows in a competitive market environment. "Our acquisition activities continue to focus mainly on commercial SME properties with a diversified tenant mix that offers a healthy risk/return profile and stable cash flows particularly in today's tight market," said Nikolai Dibus-von Homeyer, Managing Partner of NAS Invest.

Office buildings and health centres represent the primary asset classes under the current strategy. In parallel, NAS Invest said it would progressively reduce its existing mandates in the retail property sector, reflecting a deliberate portfolio tilt toward sectors with more stable income characteristics.

Institutional Pivot Drives Structural Changes

The formation of the BR-NAS joint venture with BlueRock Group represents a structural shift for NAS Invest, enabling the firm to offer regulated investment vehicles suited to institutional capital. Institutional investors typically require AIFMD-compliant structures, diversified income streams, and scalable deployment capacity — criteria the new fund series is designed to meet.

German office markets were already characterized by tight supply conditions in 2017, a context in which value-add owners could generate returns through leasing activity, tenant mix optimization, and asset management rather than relying solely on broad market appreciation. NAS Invest's emphasis on SME-sector commercial properties with diversified tenancy aligns with that approach.

The advisory board appointment of Oliver Zimper, alongside Becken and Ricken, adds external real estate expertise to support senior management as the firm navigates this expanded strategy. Specific property-level details — including square footage, occupancy rates, and individual purchase price allocations for the Dortmund, Wiesbaden, and Berlin acquisitions — were not provided in the firm's announcement.

Outlook: Additional Acquisitions Under Review

With EUR 40 million deployed and EUR 50 million in assets under due diligence, NAS Invest indicated it expected to continue building out the BR-NAS German Mittelstand Properties RAIF-SICAV portfolio through the second half of 2017. The firm's dual focus on office and healthcare real estate reflects a search for resilient demand drivers and tenant diversification across Germany's major metropolitan markets.

The combination of a newly constituted advisory board that includes Oliver Zimper, an AIFMD-compliant fund structure, and an active acquisition pipeline signals a firm in the process of repositioning itself for a broader institutional audience while maintaining its existing private wealth relationships.

Sources

NAS Invest — NAS Invest on Course for Continued Growth in the First Half of 2017