Aberdeen Asset Management is looking at ways to recycle assets from its Degi Europa fund to create portfolios attractive to institutional investors, the group's head of property Andrew Smith told PropertyEU at MIPIM in Cannes.

Aberdeen announced last October that it would liquidate its Degi Europa Fund which currently targets private investors. The asset manager is now seeking to create liquidity by selling the assets to a new, tax-efficient vehicle targeting institutional investors. 'We hope to receive approval from the German financial supervisory body Bafin by the end of the second quarter,' Smith said.

Smith said that investor appetite for the type of core assets held by the Degi Europa fund was very strong. 'We've had dozens of approaches for some assets, from German investors and many others as well,' he said. Westend Gate in Frankfurt is one of the properties in the fund that Aberdeen may sell off, he noted. 'There's a scramble for anything that comes on the market that's core,' Smith said, adding: 'That's not a recipe for those hoping to pick up assets on the cheap.'