Allan Saunderson is managing editor of Property Finance Europe and a contributor to GlobeSt.com.

ZURICH-Swiss listed group Zblin Immobilien Holding, which owns a majority stake in a French SIIC/REIT and an unlisted German subsidiary, has shifted its focus toward a portfolio of sustainable offices and cutting back non-core assets, says the group CEO.

Bruno Schefer told PIE in an interview that Zblin, whose origins reach back to the German tycoon who also founded a now-separate construction company, is the sole listed Swiss company with investments outside the Alpine nation. While this brought benefits in the past, it also meant net depreciations in 2008 of around 21% in France, 9% in Germany, and 15% in Benelux. However, Zblin holds firm to the aim set at foundation 10 years ago of being a pan-European investor.

"That was and is, from a Swiss point of view, our uniqueness," Schefer says. "We remain convinced it is the right strategy for the longer term--even if in the last two or three years it would have been better to invest only in Switzerland. Value creation can be bigger internationally than if you only stay in Switzerland."