Global investment manager LaSalle has launched the Balanced UK Property Fund for institutional investors. The new investment vehicle is a core open-ended UK property vehicle.

Global investment manager LaSalle has launched the Balanced UK Property Fund for institutional investors. The new investment vehicle is a core open-ended UK property vehicle.

The fund will invest in properties across the office, retail and warehouse market segments and completes LaSalle's global suite of core, long-term, open-ended funds.

LaSalle expects real estate to perform strongly over the next five years, due to current higher yields and a long-term rebound in rental values. Although some assets have become over-priced during the rally of the last six months, LaSalle expects further opportunities to present themselves in the second half of the year as deal flow improves. The target size of the fund is £500 mln (EUR 600 mln), with a first close expected in the summer of 2010.

Andrew Bull, director and fund manager at LaSalle, said: 'The LaSalle Balanced UK Property Fund provides investors from around the world with access to LaSalle's award-winning UK property platform, which has outperformed the IPD Universe over 3, 5 and 10-year periods, and by 580 bps in 2009. We aim to optimise investment performance through disciplined market and property selection, implementing asset management plans and following a focused approach to sales.

'We have been considering launching this Fund for several years and believe that now is the right time for this type of long-term investment vehicle. We estimate that yields still have some way to go before fair value as a whole is breached, and past trends suggest the UK property cycle offers at least a two-year window to buy into attractive returns following a downturn.'