Invesco Real Estate is opening its global real estate fund to UK defined contribution (DC) pension schemes.

The manager said its Invesco Global Real Estate Fund (GREF) has been made available to DC schemes, making it significantly easier for the schemes to invest in the global property market.

Prior to this, DC investors were limited to investing solely in UK direct property funds.

Invesco said it has worked with a “large UK DC pension scheme” advised by Lane Clark & Peacock (LCP) to bring about this development.

Invesco said a number of major UK DC pension schemes have already made a ”significant initial investment” in GREF as part of their default strategy for members through the platforms.

GREF was launched in 2019 to give institutional investors, including DC schemes, access to global direct real estate. The fund is designed to provide investors with daily pricing and liquidity while accessing direct global real estate investments.

The strategy targets 70% direct, high-quality real estate and 30% listed real estate and other liquid securities, cash and cash equivalents for liquidity.

Simon Redman, managing director, global client portfolio management at Invesco Real Estate, said: ”We’re very excited to be at the forefront of this developing market space, matching Invesco’s vision that opening a broader spectrum of investments can help DC members grow their pension savings for when they retire.

It is a compelling proposition because the global property market can potentially offer more attractive opportunities and sectors that simply do not exist at scale in the UK, Redman.

”Global real estate has not experienced the well-publicised challenges that UK property portfolios have suffered over recent years.

“With this strategy, we are able to allocate to what we believe are the best global sector and market combinations in developed markets worldwide,” Redman said.

Stephen Budge, partner and DC investment strategy lead at LCP, said: “Through the work with Invesco, it now means that DC Schemes can have access to the global real estate opportunities that exist beyond a solely UK-focused property portfolio.

“We believe that direct property is an attractive diversifier for DC schemes, and the benefit of Invesco’s global strategy is that it gives our clients immediate exposure to a well-established property portfolio managed by a team with a strong track record in the US, Europe and Asia.”

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