UK - Aviva Investors has acquired more than £260m (€289m) of UK real estate over the last six months for its AIPL vehicle, a low-risk real estate fund for institutional corporate and local authority pension schemes.

The latest acquisition, a retail park in Exeter, was bought from CIT Group for £40m (€45m), reflecting a yield of 6.7%.

The asset has 10,200 square metres of retail space and is home to tenants such as Currys, Pets At Home, Argos and Branatano.

Rob Walton, head of UK institutional real estate funds at Aviva Investors, said the acquisitions were in line with the fund's strategy to overweight "top performing sectors", while focusing on quality assets the good lease lengths and strong covenants.

He said: "The purchase of the dominant retail warehouse park in Exeter exemplifies AIPL's strategy and upgrades the portfolio.

"The lease structure and tenant line-up reduce the fund's risk profile whilst offering significant asset management opportunities for the future."

The AIPL fund invests across the major UK real estate sectors of retail, office and industrial.

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