CEE region Uniqa opens up

What makes the markets of Poland and the Czech Republic attractive?

Both markets offer an attractive combination of economic growth, strong occupier demand and interesting investment opportunities. Poland is particularly dynamic. In Warsaw, for example, we are seeing significant rental growth for high-quality offices in prime locations. At the same time, new supply is very limited. This creates favourable conditions for investors. Another important factor is pricing. Following the market correction, initial yields have increased significantly, making investments attractive again. And we know these markets very well. UNIQA has been active in Central and Eastern Europe for decades, so we have the local expertise and networks to identify opportunities and manage assets successfully.

Do you now regard these as mature markets?

Yes, absolutely. Poland and the Czech Republic have developed into established investment markets with professional market structures and a broad base of international investors. Just look at Poland: around 80 pct of the capital invested in the real estate market in 2025 came from international investors. That tells you quite a lot about confidence in the market. At the same time, these markets still offer greater growth potential than many established Western European markets. For UNIQA Real Estate, this combination of market maturity and growth prospects is particularly attractive.

When you announced that you were opening your platform to third-party investors, did you specifically have your new fund in mind?

Yes, the UQA Real Estate Fund was specifically designed for third-party investors. Until recently, our real estate platform exclusively managed the UNIQA Group's own portfolio. We have built up considerable expertise over the past 50 years, and we now want to make that expertise available to external institutional investors as well. The new fund is an important step in this strategy. But our ambitions go beyond a single fund. We also want to offer separate accounts and club deals, allowing us to develop investment solutions tailored to the individual requirements of our partners. The idea is to build a long-term third-party investment management business on the basis of our existing platform.

Why is your new fund to concentrate on offices? How do you expect the office market to develop?

We believe this is a very interesting time to invest in offices if you focus on the right properties. The market correction has created attractive entry opportunities, with initial yields in our target markets increasing by up to 250 basis points compared with peak pricing some years ago. At the same time, demand for modern, flexible office space in prime locations remains strong. And in cities such as Warsaw, Prague and Vienna, very little new space is coming onto the market. We therefore expect rents for high-quality properties to continue rising.

Of course, not every office building will benefit equally. Location, building quality, sustainability and the ability to meet changing tenant requirements are becoming increasingly important. That is why our fund focuses on Core and Core Plus properties in central locations. We see opportunities to generate returns through rental growth and active asset management rather than relying primarily on rising property values.

Are you looking at capital cities only or are regional cities also on the radar?

Our main focus is on Warsaw, Prague and Vienna, but we are certainly not limiting ourselves to capital cities. In Poland, for example, we are also looking at regional capitals of Kraków, Wrocław and Poznań. What matters to us is not just the size of a city, but the quality of the individual market and the property. We are looking for central locations, strong tenant demand, long-term rental growth potential and sufficient market liquidity. We also want to invest in assets of established, marketable transaction sizes. So regional capitals can be interesting, provided they meet our investment criteria.