BF.capital GmbH is a leading provider of institutional debt products, with a current volume of 1.8 billion euros. We manage private debt funds that are structured to generate long-term value and to deliver stable and easily predictable earnings.
As an experienced investment advisor, we develop unique investment concepts for real estate direct lending and private debt umbrella fund formats. In this context, we provide end-to-end management along the entire value chain – from deal sourcing to structuring and all the way to portfolio management.
We have already been managing real estate debt funds for institutional investors with great success since 2020. Since 2023, we have also been supporting the W&W Group with its private debt commitments.
We bring our expertise and reliability to the table as your experienced partner for sustainable and outperforming debt investments.
Our Team
Manuel Köppel has been part of the BF Group since 2014, having previously worked as an external consultant. He has been Managing Director of BF.capital since 2017. Even before entering the real estate debt fund business, he was responsible for promissory note loans and securitized loans with a volume of around EUR 700 million as well as mezzanine club deals worth around EUR 45 million. Before joining the BF.capital GmbH group of companies, he worked for around two years in risk management for leveraged finance at LBBW, where he was responsible for a loan volume of over EUR 100 million. In addition, Mr. Köppel gained more than five years of experience in the investment business and was responsible for a portfolio of over EUR 1 billion.
Eugenio Sangermano, CCrA, has been Managing Director of BF.capital since 2023. He heads the Private Debt Fund Management division. In this role, he is responsible for investments via target funds, particularly in the asset classes of corporate private credit, infrastructure debt, real estate debt and opportunistic credit strategies. Prior to the joint venture with the BF.direkt Group, he headed the private debt program of the Wüstenrot & Württembergische Group as Senior Portfolio Manager from 2013.
Berthold Garbas has been Managing Director at BF.capital since 2024 and heads the Operations division. Previously, he was responsible for investment management and investments in private equity, infrastructure, private debt and real estate at the W&W Group for over 16 years, with assets under management of EUR 6.5 billion and a team of 19 employees. He was also responsible for risk management, accounting, controlling, taxes and internal auditing. His last position at W&W included the role of Head of Private Markets. Berthold Garbas brings with him 33 years of relevant professional experience.
Pascal-Stephan Scheeff has been Managing Director Institutional Sales at BF.capital since October 2023. During the 15 years before that, he worked for the LBBW Group in a variety of positions, eventually being in charge of alternative investment sales at LBBW Asset Management. He commenced his professional career in the private banking unit of Volksbank Esslingen. Overall, he has a relevant track record of more than 22 years.
Markus Kipp has headed the investment team of BF.capital since 2021. Before that, he spent seven years with Südwestbank AG in various positions. Eventually serving as head of division, he was responsible for the corporates segment which includes corporate client financing, real estate financing and project finance. Over a two-year period, he managed a loan portfolio worth approximately 1.5 billion euros in this role. Prior to his stint with Südwestbank AG, he served as head of active credit management with Investkredit Bank, managing an existing portfolio worth approximately 1 billion euros.
Marc Schurer, who transferred to BF.capital two years ago, has nine years of professional experience in the banking and investment business. He gathered fund management experience during his prior job as vice president of Wealthcap, where he managed the financial modelling for institutional and public AIFs in the real estate asset class. In previous positions with HypoVereinsbank, he also acquired know-how in risk controlling while also familiarising himself with front- and middle-office workflows through cross-functional responsibilities.
Our Supervisory Board
Francesco Fedele is the founder and CEO of the BF.direkt Group. The company specialises in structuring debt capital for commercial real estate financing purposes and simultaneously in the asset management of debt investments. The company business is conducted through several operating subsidiaries. Fedele is responsible for the strategic control of the entire group of companies and its expansion.
He began his professional career with a major insurance group in 1982. In 1992, he formed the company Fedele BauFinanz GmbH & Co. KG, the legal precursor of BF.direkt AG. As founder and majority shareholder of BF.direkt AG, he has many years of experience in the acquisition, structuring and placement of commercial real estate financing arrangements. Since mid-2022, he has also served as first chairman of Institut für Immobilienforschung, a non-profit organisation promoting real estate industry research.
Wolfgang Kuhn, one of the founding partners of BF.direkt, is a finance expert with long years of senior management experience. In 1985, following his doctorate, he was Visiting Scholar at the Business School of University of Washington before entering the banking business world. Following successful stints with Stuttgarter Bank AG and Bankhaus Bauer AG, he eventually served as CEO of Südwestbank AG.
Since September 2019, after Südwestbank was sold, he has been self-employed, advising a number of companies as member of supervisory and advisory boards. He is also Honorary Consul of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg for Baden-Württemberg and Honorary Professor for Banking Policy at the University of Leipzig.
ESG
The objective that BF.capital pursues is to give institutional investors access to debt investments that combine attractive returns with a positive contribution to global sustainability goals.
By signing the UNPRI (UN Principles for Responsible Investment), we have underscored our commitment to responsible investing, making environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects an integral part of our decisions. We believe that integrating sustainability factors into our investment strategy will not only help us to deliver financial success but will also be instrumental in making investments resilient vis-à-vis different market conditions. In addition, these factors work toward a brighter future for our society and encourage innovation.
Our ESG strategy serves as guidance for achieving attractive returns for our investors as well as positive long-term effects for social and environmental aspects.
Regulation (EU) 2019/2088, also known as Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), obligates financial advisers to ensure that the integration of sustainability risks and their ramifications for financial products are transparently communicated. Accordingly, BF.capital must include and disclose its sustainability risks during its investment advisory process. Such risks include environmental, social or governance events that, if they occur, could adversely affect the value of a given investment.
In accordance with Article 3, SFDR, BF.capital has made sustainability risks an integral component of its investment decision processes. The investment teams appraise and document these risks together with other key factors in the course of the due diligence phase. Thereafter, a given investment is continuously monitored by the AIFM and by BF.capital.
Although we recognise the significance of environmental, social, governance (ESG) factors and integrate them in our advisory activities, we currently do not take account of the principal adverse impacts (PAI) of our investment decisions on the sustainability indicators in the specific manner that is mandated by Article 4, SFDR. Implementing these requirements would necessitate a comprehensive collection of data across diverse investment funds, which, for the time being, remains impossible to do in the absence of uniform reporting standards. However, we keep a constant eye on the evolving situation regarding data availability and actively adjust our practices accordingly. This decision is regularly reviewed.
In accordance with Article 5, SFDR, we explain how our remuneration policy takes compliance with sustainability risks into account. All BF.capital employees are paid an adequate annual salary. In addition, employees may, depending on their position, receive variable remuneration that is tied to the company’s overall performance. Sustainability risks play an important role in this context because they contribute to the long-term stability and success of BF.capital. By taking sustainability criteria into account in our remuneration policy, we ensure that short-term incentives do not conflict with our sustainable growth objectives.
Real Estate Debt (Direct Lending)
The buildings sector is responsible for 39 percent of all global carbon emissions – a figure that shows how important sustainable approaches are in the construction and real estate industries. We at BF.capital have made it our business to contribute to the emission reduction effort and to promote sustainable urban development.
Sustainability is firmly integrated into our investment process. During our deliberations in regard to Article-8 products within the meaning of the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), we attach particular importance to the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. This way, we ensure that these investments are not just financially attractive but are also structured in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. Through transparent reporting, we always keep our investors updated on the performance of our investments – and on our progress toward a future worth living.
Private Debt Fund Investments
BF.capital integrates ESG (environmental, social, governance) criteria into the private debt fund investment segment in order to create both financial benefits and societal value added. By applying clear sustainability and knock-out criteria, we ensure that certain segments, such as controversial weapons, are entirely ruled out while others are subject to strict concentration limits so as to ensure they account for only a small fraction of our investments.
Through diligent ESG ratings and active monitoring, we ensure that our target fund managers report transparently on ESG risks. This enables us to create long-term added value for our clients and to promote the sustainable transformation of the global economy.