GLOBAL - Will Robson, property research analyst at Prupim, has been promoted to property derivatives director to help drive new market opportunities.

Robson is tasked with investigating new and efficient ways of using property derivatives for the firm's funds and to explore ways of developing derivative-based investment strategies for its existing and future clients.

In an interview for IPE Real Estate, Robson said: "We want to help [funds] exploit the advantages of using property derivatives and fully integrate the use of property derivatives into the efficient management of their portfolios.

"I think the derivatives market is developing nicely. There is still a general upward trend and there is still potential for it to grow, despite downward blips in volume that are only mirroring the physical market," he said.

Commenting on the benefits of using property derivatives, Robson added: "Now and going forward the use of derivatives will become more and more important. By saving transaction costs and time they can help funds outperform their competitors."

Prupim was the first real estate investment manager to trade a total return swap and  was recently the first to trade a structured note based on income return rather than total return, officials have claimed.

Robson will continue to work alongside Professor Paul McNamara, director and head of research at Prupim, and will liaise with colleagues from M&G, Prupim's asset management arm, leveraging off their experience with derivatives in other asset classes.

Prior to joining the life insurer real estate team, Robson worked as an economist in the strategy and regulatory team at Royal Mail, the UK's state-owned postal service.

Prupim is a division of Prudential Group plc, the UK-based life insurer, but operates as a global real estate investment manager with approximately £18.5bn (€21.6bn) invested
property types across Europe, North America and Asia.

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