Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, one of the UK’s largest pension pools, has launched its search for a specialist manager to support the development and management of its multi-billion-pound UK Real Estate Fund. The initial UK fund is likely to be £1.75bn of direct properties at launch, but is anticipated to grow to over £3bn with further investments from Partner Funds over time.
The successful manager will work with Border to Coast’s dedicated internal investment team to develop and implement the investment strategy, source high-quality real estate opportunities across the UK and provide asset management services for real estate assets. The manager will embed active stewardship and ESG considerations into the investment process including both portfolio construction and asset management.
Alistair Smith, Head of Real Estate at Border to Coast, said: “UK Real Estate is a fundamental asset class for our Partner Funds’ wider investment strategies. This is an exciting opportunity to help build a bespoke, direct property portfolio that offers exposure to high quality real estate investments. We’re looking to build a long term, trusted relationship, and look forward to speaking with specialists in UK real estate that can help us achieve this.”
Along with the launch of the UK real estate fund (the “Main Fund”), Border to Coast is also launching a second “Gateway fund” which will hold indirect assets, such as REITs and large UK balanced real estate funds. This Fund will provide Partner Funds with indirect access to the UK real estate market pending the allocation of capital into the Main Fund for investments in direct properties.
The selected Manager will work with our internal investment team to maintain relationships with market counterparties and intermediaries to ensure that a detailed understanding of the real estate market and anticipated capital raising that would be relevant to the Main and Gateway Fund mandates.
The UK Real Estate Fund is a key pillar of Border to Coast’s Real Estate proposition being developed on behalf of its Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Partner Funds. Alongside a separate Global Real Estate offering (anticipated to be £1bn in size), it will seek to deliver the benefits of pooling by offering access to a diversified range of high-quality real estate investment opportunities in a sustainable and cost-effective manner.
The procurement process to select a manager begins in mid-November, and will be run by Border to Coast with support from MJ Hudson. Further information on the tender opportunity can be found on myTenders portal, https://www.mytenders.co.uk/search/show/search_view.aspx?ID=NOV165544
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