Norselab launches first thematic high-yield fund in Nordic real estate

Norselab Real Estate Credit Opportunities launches on November 20th, 2023. The initiative is the second in a series of credit products envisioned under the Norselab Group umbrella, and comes at the back of exceptional opportunities spotted by Norselab’s credit team in a real estate sector under a lot of strain.

- Nordic real estate is under tough pressure. With high inflation, rising interest rates, and poor macro factors, now is excellent timing for high-yield credit, says Managing Director of Norselab’s credit arm, Tom Hestnes.

For the new real estate credit fund, Hestnes and his team combine their credit expertise with the sectorial know-how of real estate players K2A and Compactor.

- We will pool knowledge, networks, analysis, and execution to enhance our decision-making. In addition, we leverage Norselab’s renowned sustainability expertise to select companies with solid underlying sustainable value, Hestnes explains.

We will pool knowledge, networks, analysis, and execution, and leverage our renowned sustainability expertise to select companies with solid underlying sustainable value.

The real estate opportunities fund will have high concentration and aims to deploy the team’s vast experience with distressed situations. Hestnes is renowned for his activist mindset, and predicts he will spearhead several restructurings on behalf of bondholders. In doing so, he also aims to bring sustainability considerations and opportunities into the mix.

- Our goal is to have distressed companies make the right choices, and secure optimal solutions for the bondholders. With this new fund, we will make our mark in the Nordic real estate corporate bonds universe over the next 3-5 years, states Hestnes.

There has been great appetite for the product in the market, and the fund is off the ground with almost NOK 550 million under management, and a cap at NOK 1.5 billion.

The new fund launches just short of a year after the flagship fund Norselab Meaningful Impact High Yield, which was the first SFDR Article 9 Nordic High Yield fund. The fund has attracted significant attention in the market, with a year-to-date net return of 12.96% as of end October this year.

About Norselab Real Estate Credit Opportunities
Norselab Real Estate Credit Opportunities is an Alternative Investment Fund investing in high yield corporate bonds in the Nordic real estate sector, and disclosing under SFDR Article 9. The fund is managed by Nordic top-performing portfolio manager Tom Hestnes and Ole Einar Stokstad, Norway’s leading credit analyst. The fund is the second credit fund launched under the umbrella of Norselab Group, a leading Nordic impact investment platform backed by Capricorn Investment Group.