We are going to renew Valencia as a financial destination
From the United States a new player arrives at the Valencian 'City' with financial investments taking advantage of the real estate recovery opportunity
VALÈNCIA.- Eduard Navarro (Valencia, 1979) moved ten years ago from his hometown to the United States but still considers himself "very Valencian." He has always been in contact with Valencia. He studied at Georgia Tech in Atlanta and at L'Ecole d'Architecture de la Villete in Paris. Later in Columbia University (New York), he studied with the renowned Franco-American architect Bernard Tschumi as dean, combining urban planning and finance to graduate in both disciplines. "In Spain I consider myself more financial and in the US more urbanist," he acknowledges to Valencia Plaza in his Valencian office.
Navarro founded an investment firm in Atlanta and New York dedicated to land developments, with which he obtained notable re-qualifications for his sustainable, urban projects and economic and social profitability fundamentals. All this following the philosophy of long term value investment based, "on the fundamentals of the business, because ‘if you know in depth the business of a company you can carry out a more real valuation.’
At the end of 2013, and after a studying for fifteen years, he founded in Valencia Net de Gerrers (NdG) looking to take advantage of the innumerable opportunities that arose in the real estate sector. "We are a capital manager with an American profile, which in Spain is less developed as a result of the crisis and with the entry of the euro began to move capital towards alternative investments . " This new player of the Valencian 'City' is based more on the financial component of companies with notable national and international travel where we accompany them in their development.
Real estate
In the first two years of operation, NdG has analyzed approximately 700 assets and has more than 50 million euros in own funds and a portfolio valued at about 165 million. This long-term investor in relative value recognizes that «Valencia is recovering the real estate pace following in the footsteps of Madrid and Barcelona. We are going to recover Valencia as a financial place ». Likewise, he does not believe that the impact of Brexit is as pronounced as many think because "there is still a lot of interest in buying in Spain."
He is currently working in a Valencian socimi , whose objective is ‘to quote in the Continuous Market and not in the Alternative Stock Market (MAB)’. This real estate investment company has set itself in the 'hopes' (rental housing with option to buy), which in its day launched Esperanza Aguirre when she was president of the Community of Madrid. «We are going to bring the“ hopes ”to Valencia”.
NdG then supported that initiative - before the outbreak of the real estate boom - and more now because «it adapts very well to the current market situation and is an attractive vehicle for the tenant, because he does not lose what he has paid for the rent. We can provide a service with this attractive idea of combining rent and sale, giving a greater option of return to the investor. It offers the security of return because the rental of first home is statistically stable and the sales components are not linked to a temporary space ».
The objective of marked profitability reaches 11% of the total duration of the investment, which comprises between two and three years during the development of the same and between eight and ten years at the time of the divestment. "But always identifying well the product where we are going to invest after a thorough analysis," Navarro said. For this, they have the support of the American firm Merced Capital, one of the greats of alternative investment. «We are your investment arm in Spain; we have mimicked their working method and share the selection and identification of investments, ”he says.
NET DE GERRERS (NDG) HAS A PORTFOLIO VALUED AT ABOUT 320 MILLION EUROS AFTER ANALYZING 1500 ASSETS
Eduard Navarro, his hometown, is reminded of a city in the state of Georgia, Savannah, "not only because of its size but because of its importance as the first container port in the United States." However, he is aware that there the banking investment is practically residual, «contrary to what happens here, where the banks are the big financiers, although with the disappearance of the two large Valencian banks the decision making process has been emptied in the city". However, remember the role of JP Morgan in financing the Port of Valencia; or the Castellón tile sector, where international transactions have been seen without bank financing. What is needed is to explain to Valencian entrepreneurs that these alternative financing tools exist and are at their disposal ».
Finally, the founder of Net de Gerrers does not hesitate to point out that the Valencian Community is a good destination for investments. «He has always shown work capacity and with a powerful industry beyond Ford and the Port of Valencia. I insist that you have to value the alternative capital to help looking for the success of the people involved in the companies, because that will make the Valencian Community even stronger ».
* This article was originally published in the February issue of Plaza magazine