Swiss Life AM targets UK real estate as it rebrands Mayfair Capital

Swiss Life Asset Managers could increase investment in the recently repriced UK real estate market following a rebranding of its Mayfair Capital subsidiary.

The £279bn (€320bn) investment manager announced today that it is changing the name of Mayfair Capital, a UK real estate investment manager it acquired in 2016, to Swiss Life Asset Managers UK.

Swiss Life Asset Managers, which manages £99bn in real estate investments, said it “sees scope for increasing capital commitments to UK real estate”.

The firm, which manages £162bn on behalf of Swiss Life insurance company, said: “While macro headwinds have limited investments since its acquisition of Mayfair Capital, Swiss Life Asset Managers is beginning to see the relative value and structural tailwinds in UK industrial, logistics, living, healthcare, and self-storage sectors.”

The renamed Swiss Life Asset Managers UK manages close to £2bn of assets on behalf of institutional, charity and endowment investors.

Stefan Mächler, group CIO at Swiss Life, said: “Six years on from our acquisition of Mayfair Capital, the rebranding to Swiss Life Asset Managers UK is a natural step for the benefit of our clients and employees.

“Swiss Life Asset Managers has a successful history of being thorough and methodical in incorporating acquired businesses into the Swiss Life Asset Managers brand. Shifting to Swiss Life Asset Managers UK is an opportunity to unify the brand across the UK and Europe, and to champion real estate assets and our key thematic strategies across all business operations.”

Giles King, CEO of Swiss Life Asset Managers UK, said: “The rebranding of Mayfair Capital to Swiss Life Asset Managers UK marks an exciting step forward for our company. It will help accelerate our business growth by presenting a strong and coherent brand to our existing clients and attracting new institutional investors across real estate assets, generating more opportunities and thereby strengthening our UK and pan-European real estate platform.

“Over the last six years, we have made several UK investments on behalf of Swiss Life Asset Managers’ pan-European strategies. We have provided asset management services to these funds, and we expect this part of our business to continue to grow over time.

“There are several Swiss Life Asset Managers’ pan-European funds that are actively looking to invest in the UK with compelling opportunities across a variety of sectors. We are confident this move will help us to grow and further our reputation for excellence in the management of real estate.”