Following a first close of the London CIV (LCIV) UK housing fund on 31 March, CBRE UK affordable housing fund (CBRE UK AHF) has been selected as the first investment, with a formal close into CBRE UK AHF occurring on 5 May.
London CIV manages London Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) assets, and was established in 2015 by London Local Authorities. London CIV is one of eight UK LGPS asset pooling companies. The London Boroughs and City of London who make up the 32 shareholders are also the manager's clients.
Dean Bowden, CEO of London CIV, said: 'We are excited to have launched the LCIV UK Housing Fund and to have made our first investment alongside CBRE IM.
'Affordable housing offers attractive characteristics including income that typically tracks inflation, high occupancy and low void rates, and low correlation to other real estate sectors.
'It also offers resilience across market cycles and is less sensitive to changes in the economy, as we saw during the pandemic.'
Andrew Davey, head of liability aware strategies and affordable housing at CBRE Investment Management said: 'It became apparent throughout a comprehensive due diligence process that our approach to impact investment and affordable housing was closely aligned with the values and targets of London CIV so this partnership is very exciting.'
He added: 'We are both committed to addressing key societal and environmental issues, and we hope to build on our track record with existing LGPS investors to work together with London CIV to make a meaningful impact and achieve their financial goals.'
