All articles by Daniel Brooksbank

  • News

    West Sussex reviews real estate

    2007-04-16T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE – The £1.5bn (€2.2bn) West Sussex County Council Pension Fund is reviewing its property mandate with Cushman & Wakefield Investors due to contract expiry. "The council is reviewing the arrangements for the ...

  • News

    Irish reserve fund’s real estate chief departs

    2007-04-10T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE - Ian Gleeson, head of property at Ireland’s €18.8bn National Pensions Reserve Fund, is to join Morley Fund Management. It was not immediately clear what the departure would mean for the NPRF’s target of allocating 8%...

  • News

    EU sets up real estate expert group

    2007-04-02T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE – The European Commission has decided to set up an expert group to advice it on open-ended real estate funds. "The group will advise the Commission on how to improve the European market for these funds and on whether EU-lev...

  • News

    Land Securities converts to REIT

    2006-12-18T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE - Land Securities has confirmed that it is to convert into a Real Estate Investment Trust on January 1 next year following its Extraordinary General Meeting. It said 99.1% of shareholders backed the decision. The conversion will result...

  • News

    Schroders buys German real estate manager

    2006-12-18T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE - Schroders says it has agreed to buy German real estate asset manager Aareal Asset Management GmbH for an initial £18.8m (€28m) from Aareal Bank. Wiesbaden-based AAM has €1.9bn in assets under management and manages s...

  • News

    German insurer Gerling in residential sell-off

    2006-12-11T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE – German life insurance group HDI Gerling has sold more than 2,600 residential units to Patrizia Immobilien for around €300m. Patrizia said it bought the portfolio – comprising 2,737 residential and commercial units &...

  • News

    Institutions must embed SRI for real estate – UN

    2006-12-11T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE – The United Nations has called for real estate investors to consider the environment when they make portfolio decisions. The UN’s Environment Programme Finance Initiative has launched a working group on responsible propert...

  • News

    New real estate investment bank launched

    2006-12-11T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE – A new real estate investment bank has been launched by former executives at HSBC and Jones Lang Lasalle. "We announce the establishment of Lowndes Partners, LLP an independent investment bank specialising in financial adv...

  • News

    Ernst & Young names real estate head

    2006-12-04T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE – Ernst & Young have named Dean Hodcroft as its new head of Real Estate, Hospitality and Construction (RHC). After 18 years with the firm, Hodcraft, 39, will now lead the 1,000-strong group for the UK and NEMIA region - which...

  • News

    Real estate ripe for global investment - Schroders CIO

    2006-11-20T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE – The real estate market is "ripe" for a more global investment approach, says Schroders’ investment chief Alan Brown. "We have indeed seen a global property boom that has spread to many parts of the world...

  • News

    Mercer: patience a virtue in infrastructure

    2006-11-13T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE – Investment consulting firm Mercer is telling its pension fund clients that patience and due diligence are virtues when it comes to investing in infrastructure. "Our advice to investors is be patient," said senior as...

  • News

    IPE-QUEST: Dutch pension fund tenders real estate

    2006-11-13T00:00:00Z

    NETHERLANDS – A Dutch industry-wide pension fund has tendered a c.€75m euro zone real estate mandate via IPE-Quest. The search (QN676) states: "The client is looking for a manager for an active (low risk) real estate mandate. The...

  • News

    USS backs new student housing fund

    2006-11-13T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE - The Universities Superannuation Scheme is among the institutional backers for a new £515m (€764m) student accommodation fund being launched by real estate firm Unite Group. Unite said the new UK Student Accommodation Fund ...

  • News

    CBRE Investors names Tokyo MD

    2006-10-16T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE - CB Richard Ellis Investors has named Steven Bass, formerly CEO of Macquarie Properties Japan and previously Director of Acquisitions at CB Richard Ellis Investors Japan, has re-joined the firm as managing director based in Tokyo. I...

  • News

    British Airways pension fund sells property

    2006-10-16T00:00:00Z

    UK – A British Airways pension fund has sold a retail property in Stoke, central England, for £14.3m (€21.2m). Warner Estate Holdings said its Radial Distribution Fund joint venture with Bank of Scotland has bought Radial Point, r...

  • News

    Chicago school fund eyes international

    2006-09-25T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE – The $10.9bn (€8.5bn) Public School Teachers' Pension and Retirement Fund of Chicago is considering amending its real estate exposure, according to fund documents. At its last trustee meeting on August 17 executive directo...

  • News

    Belgium sells off military real estate

    2006-09-25T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE – The Belgian government is planning to sell off an “important” piece of its defence real estate – a plot of land containing officer accommodation. The Ministry of Defence’s Central Service for Social an...

  • News

    Idaho fund in $18m Arizona purchase

    2006-09-25T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE – The $9.9bn (€7.75bn) Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho, or PERSI, was last week involved in the $18m purchase of an office building in Scottsdale, Arizona following the vendor’s liquidation. PERSI and the C...

  • News

    IPE-QUEST: Swiss institution tenders real estate

    2006-09-18T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE – Swiss investment consultant Kieger AG has tendered two real estate mandates for one of its institutional clients via IPE-Quest. Up to $50m is being tendered via two searches (QN659 and QN660). They are not connected to search Q...

  • News

    Warwick fund puts €75m into real estate

    2006-09-18T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE - Warwickshire County Council has tendered for up to £50m (€75m) in real estate for the £1bn Warwickshire Pension Fund. It’s also putting a similar amount out to tender for fund of hedge funds. The fund, which ...