LakeRock welcomes Max Chuard as a shareholder

At a highly successful event bringing together investors and partners, the LakeRock team had the opportunity to present the first results of its investment vehicle and outline its future ambitions.

LakeRock Capital, a Swiss investment firm specialised in high-end real estate, launched a closed-end Swiss real estate fund in 2022 reserved for qualified investors. Its strategy is closer to private equity than to a traditional real estate fund, both in terms of its finite lifespan and its ambition to generate double-digit returns.

The fund stands out in Switzerland for its unique investment model, premium positioning and particularly strong alignment of interests between the manager and its investors.

Despite its size, Switzerland ranks as the world’s fourth most popular relocation destination for UHNWI. It is home to numerous international companies whose executives have the capacity to acquire high-end properties. This trend validates the premium positioning championed by LakeRock.

“The model we built for the first fund has now proven itself. We act as a true accelerator for developers by simplifying the critical marketing and pre-sales phases, while allowing investors to access a rare asset class without entry premium and with performance crystallised at the end of each project,”
explains Léonard Cohen, co-founder and Chairman of LakeRock Capital.

In addition, LakeRock recently opened its share capital to entrepreneur Max Chuard, former CEO of Temenos, who made a substantial investment in the vehicle and acquired an initial 25% stake in LakeRock Capital.

Léonard Cohen adds:

“We are delighted to welcome Max Chuard as a shareholder in our company. His arrival is a strong vote of confidence in our business model from an investor of his calibre.”

Max Chuard, for his part, comments:

“The unique strategy, the vision of the management team and the outlook for the Swiss real estate market convinced me to join the LakeRock Capital venture. I am pleased to contribute to its development and to the acceleration of its future growth.”

A first fund off to a strong start

LakeRock reports a very positive assessment following the launch of its first fund in 2022, which comprises 9 assets, 4 of which have already been sold. These initial disposals enabled the return of nearly 20% of equity to investors and generated a double-digit IRR, well above initial expectations*. In Switzerland, dividends from direct real estate funds are considered capital gains and are not taxable for private investors, further enhancing the attractiveness of the product.

“Our target return at launch in 2022 was an IRR of 12% per year. We are now targeting an IRR of close to 20%* by the end of the first fund, once all assets have been liquidated,”
says Alexandre Costa, co-founder and CEO of LakeRock Capital.

This momentum validates the management model, which is based on short cycles and a value-creation-driven strategy. Alexandre Costa adds:

“The high-end segment remains structurally under-allocated by institutional capital, even as demand for turnkey, finished products continues to grow. The early successes of the vehicle demonstrate that our targeted approach can generate significant performance, independently of macroeconomic cycles.”

Switzerland’s structural housing shortage — particularly acute in Geneva and Zurich, where vacancy rates have reached historically low levels, notably 0.3% in Geneva — further reinforces the relevance of this positioning. In addition, Swiss mountain regions attract foreign buyers seeking property, and a growing number of wealthy individuals are establishing their primary residence there.

An institutional ‘real estate trading’ strategy

Unlike traditional real estate funds, LakeRock creates value by acquiring residential properties off-plan, once the building permit is already in force, and reselling them 6 to 24 months later. The manager focuses on three types of assets: units within developments with approved permits, land plots with permits, and houses to be renovated. In all cases, acquisitions are made only when both the management team and the Board of Directors have a high level of conviction regarding value creation and when project duration is fully controlled.

As Léonard Cohen notes:

“Even the most attractive development, with a 100% margin, is not interesting if it takes 15 years to obtain a building permit.”

A manager remunerated on performance, not size

LakeRock’s philosophy is based on strong alignment of interests: the bulk of the manager’s remuneration depends on the performance generated upon asset disposal, not on assets under management. The executives and shareholders have also invested more than 25% of the equity of the first vehicle themselves, underscoring this commitment.

LakeRock Capital remains confident about the fund’s future, convinced that the international environment, Switzerland’s attractiveness and the growing inflow of wealthy new residents will continue to sustainably support demand for premium residential properties.