Real Estate Developer

Who we are

Vanguard Properties, today the largest real estate developer in Portugal, was founded in 2017 as a company established by a European family office, headed by Luso-Swiss investor Claude Berda, and José Cardoso Botelho, entrepreneur with a vast experience in Portugal’s real state sector.

Resulting from this partnership is a group which is financially secure, has an unusually high capacity for investment, and a thorough knowledge of the local market and its players.

Its real estate development experience and a flexible and rapid decision making process, are other factors that make this company one of the most credible and dynamic in the sector.

Focusing on innovation and standards of the highest quality, Vanguard Properties mainly operates in the residential and tourism segments, with a vision enshrined in an integrated lifestyle philosophy, where every detail counts.

Projects with the Vanguard hallmark extend far beyond the expected, they promote a lifestyle in which all aspects, from architecture to interior design, including the pieces of art in shared areas, all converge to the same result: to offer a unique way of life, while at the same time, providing buyers with a handsome investment.

So, as to secure its reputation as a developer of the highest standards, Vanguard Properties boasts a highly qualified team made up with more than 60 specialized collaborators, working at every step of the process, from searching out real estate opportunities, to marketing and selling the properties.

The group currently has 22 urban and tourist projects in its portfolio, spread over upmarket locations in Lisbon, Oeiras, Algarve and Comporta. Covering a total above ground Gross Building Area (GBA) of around 1.027.781 sqm, in an investment worth more than € 1.215 million.

Vanguard Properties was elected Vice-President of the Portuguese Association of Real Estate Developers and Investors (APPII). APPII was incorporated in 1991, and is the national entity representing real estate developers and investors, both national and international, in Portugal, with a volume of investment representing every year 15% of the national GDP.

Vanguard Properties maintains privileged banking relationships with several banks, namely Millennium BCP, Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Novo Banco, Montepio, Banco BPI, Bankinter and Crédito Agrícola. The group is audited by PKF Portugal.

Shareholder

Claude Berda

Claude Berda is the founder and ex-Chairman of the AB Group (now Mediawan Thematics), one of the largest companies in the production and broadcasting of audiovisual content in France and which he sold in 2017. From 2003, Claude Berda began to invest in real estate in Switzerland, where today he is the largest private player. More than 200 office and residential assets make up his portfolio which include the Quartier l’Etange in Geneva, the largest Swiss property development, and Urban Project S.A., a development company that manages over 100 projects and around 50,000 rental contracts in the country which generate rents of over CHF 950 M (€893 M) (2,700 buildings).

Claude Berda visited Portugal for the first time in the 1970s, but it was in 2015 on a whistle-stop visit when he met José Cardoso Botelho that he decided to invest heavily in Portugal, rapidly achieving the position of the main overseas investor in the real estate sector.

More recently, his son Alexandre Berda joined the Vanguard Properties team thereby ensuring the continuation of the Berda family’s link with Portugal for many years to come.

I’ve been to various parts of the world and Portugal continues to amaze me. It is a fantastic country because of the quality of life, climate, security and the way people think and live”.

Claude Berda

CEO

José Cardoso Botelho

José Cardoso Botelho has been an entrepreneur and investor since 1988. Influenced by his father who was also a developer in the real estate, he began visiting development sites from an early age and quickly developed an interest in the activity, but most of all it is the sheer joy of completing projects which still moves him to this day. An expert in Portugal’s real estate market, José Cardoso Botelho has enjoyed a multifaceted business trajectory over which he was liked to areas as diverse as construction and real estate (development and investment), software, medical equipment, leisure, fashion and financial investment in countries like Switzerland, Germany, Russia and Angola.

He met Claude Berda in 2015. Their personal empathy and shared ideas on the potential of the Portuguese real estate market led them to quickly make the decision to set up a company that is behind Vanguard Properties of which he is CEO today.

Our credibility rests on a thorough knowledge of the sector and market as well as a strong investment capacity, not to mention a huge determination to exceed expectations."

José Cardoso Botelho

Shareholder

Alexandre Berda

Alexandre Berda, after completing his studies in Economics at Institut Florimont, graduated in Business Management and Technology from La Salle BCN. He later obtained an MBA in Entrepreneurship from HEC Paris and a Master’s in Business Administration from Georgetown University. In 2019, he joined the Vanguard Properties team, ensuring the Berda family's continued presence in Portugal. Since then, he has contributed to strengthening Vanguard Properties’ position in the Portuguese real estate market, supporting the development of landmark projects that reflect the company’s vision and commitment to excellence and innovation.

His strategic and dynamic vision has accompanied the group’s solid growth, not only in Portugal but also in other markets where its companies invest.