UK - Pramerica Real Estate Investors will take over from UBS Global Asset Management as investment adviser for the UBS Secure Income Property fund.

The transfer, subject to Jersey regulatory approval, is expected to take place next month and will see the vehicle's name changed to the Pramerica UK Ground Lease fund.

Charles Crowe, director of UK Real Estate at Pramerica, will be the lead portfolio investment adviser for the fund, working alongside colleagues Paul Dennis-Jones and Andrew Grigson.

All three joined Pramerica from UBS Global Asset Management in September 2009.
While at UBS, Crowe was the portfolio adviser to the fund.

The fund aims to offer pension funds access to secure real estate income streams as an alternative to bonds by putting together a portfolio of ground leases, or ground rents.

The open-ended Jersey-based unit trust has been marketed in the past as offering better yields than long-date index-linked gilts, often used by institutions in liability-driven investment strategies.

It is benchmarked against the return on the index-linked 2055 gilt and invests in ground leases of more than 75 years.

Crowe said: "At Pramerica, we have a strong interest in developing our business in ground lease funds.

"In assuming the advisory role for this vehicle, we will be looking to apply our transactional and advisory expertise to generate further strong returns for investors.

"This transfer significantly builds our credentials in this specialist area of the real estate market."