News-Room

Symbolic politics instead of problem solving: the misguided debate on the ‘Lex Koller’ and listed real estate companies Various politicians want to ban foreigners from acquiring shares in real estate companies again – as was the case before 2005. However, such a step backwards would not only be counterproductive, it would also have no significant impact on residential property prices. Real estate companies are mainly active in the commercial sector, explains Robert Sekula, Senior Portfolio Manager at SFP. Furthermore, a return to the old rules could trigger a chain reaction that would ultimately have a negative impact on the returns of Swiss pension funds. Instead of focusing on backward-looking measures, we should build on innovative solutions that promote sustainable growth and stability.

This year's Ordinary General Meeting of Investors of the SFP Investment Foundation took place on 7 May 2025. All of the Foundation Board's proposals were approved.

The SFP investment foundation can look back on a strong performance overall. The investment group SFP AST Swiss Real Estate had a successful financial year, with a convincing portfolio growth and an unchanged distribution at the previous year's level. The SFP AST Global Core Property investment groups are also well-positioned thanks to their allocation. The GRESB point scores across all investment groups are also pleasing.

This year's Annual General Meeting of SF Urban Properties Ltd took place on 9 April 2025. At the Annual General Meeting, 5 136 095 share votes were present or represented. This corresponds to 87.93% of the shares entered in the share register.

At the LSEG Lipper Fund Awards 2025 Switzerland, the Swiss Finance & Property Group (SFP Group) was honoured for the third time in a row in the "Equity Sector Real Estate Europe" category. The SF Property Selection Fund was awarded as the fund with the best five-year performance, while the SF Property Securities Fund received the award for the best three-year performance. 

The SF Retail Properties Fund posted a strong result for the year 2024. Net income increased significantly to CHF 31.76 million – this equates to CHF 4.52 per unit. The distribution for the year 2024 is CHF 4.35 per unit, which corresponds to a distribution payout ratio of 96.16%. 

The SF Commercial Properties Fund can look back on an impressive 2024 financial year. Net income per unit increased significantly by around 5.3% compared to the previous year.  Vacancy was reduced further and stood at 6.76% as at the reporting date (previous year: 6.89%). As at 31 December 2024, the market value of the portfolio was stable at  CHF 278.19 million (previous year: CHF 279.55 million) with a gross yield of 6.41% (previous year: 6.31%). 

The capital increase of the real estate fund SF Sustainable Property Fund was successfully completed. The subscription rights were fully exercised. The issue will result in the fund receiving new funds of the maximum of gross CHF 144.3 million.

In the past year, management focused on increasing rental income and acquiring properties in the strategic centres of Zurich and Basel – both of which were implemented.

In the 2024 financial year, the SF Sustainable Property Fund was able to achieve a solid annual result with improved operational performance in a challenging year thanks to targeted portfolio expansion and optimisation. During the financial year, a net income of CHF 26.1 million was generated (+3.3%). The EBIT margin improved from 60.9% in the previous year to 63.2%. The vacancy rate as at 31 December 2024 was 4.7%, thus continuing to develop positively. The NAV as at 31 December 2024 was CHF 118.63 per unit. The distribution for the 2024 financial year amounts to CHF 3.20 per unit and corresponds to a distribution yield of 2.5% based on the unit price on 31 December 2024.