Aviva Investors begins £2.5bn non-core assets sale

Aviva Investors is selling a £2.5bn (€3bn) portfolio of non-core properties in the UK.

The fund manager would not comment on media reports that the so-called Project Loch portfolio will go on sale next month.

Performing assets in administration and receivership form part of the portfolio, it is understood.

Deloitte, which would not comment, is mandated to find a buyer for the assets, with JLL also advising.

Late last year, JP Morgan Asset Management bought Aviva Investors’ Asia Pacific direct real estate investment platform.

The deal saw the US investment manager take on Aviva Investors’ existing core and value-added real estate funds as well as Aviva’s operations in Australia, Japan and Singapore.

Around 16 Aviva staff in Hong Kong, Mumbai, Singapore, Shanghai and Sydney are transferring to JP Morgan Asset Management’s global real assets team.

The firm’s London office recently named Mike Luscombe as lead manager of the Aviva Investors Property Trust (AIPT). Luscombe replaces Philip Nell, who has been appointed fund director at Hermes Investment Management.

Last month, Aviva Investors’ real estate multi-manager joined TIAA Henderson’s debut property debt fund.