Schroders raises £160m for London office trust

Schroders has raised £162m (€222m) for its London office-focused WELPUT unit trust vehicle.

The WELPUT (West End of London Property Unit Trust) vehicle was backed by a single institutional investor via the secondary market, Schroders said.

Duncan Owen, head of Schroder Real Estate, said European and Asian investors had backed the fund as it looks to spread its investment across the UK capital.

“Demand for central London offices from international investors remains unsatisfied, and there also remains interest for further new investment,” Owen said.

The specialist £1.2bn fund, managed by Schroders and Quintain Estates subsidiary Grafton Advisors, currently owns 11 assets in central London.

CBRE Capital Advisors was last year appointed global capital-raising agent for the trust as it looked to raise capital for new acquisitions and the refurbishment of its existing portfolio.

WELPUT was converted to an open-ended structure in October last year, with its investment remit extended beyond London’s West End district as a reaction to changing occupier demands.

The fund delivered 21.5% a year between 2010 and the end of last year, according to MSCI’s IPD index.

The return made the trust the UK’s top performing office fund.

WELPUT last year received redemption requests for 16.5% of its net asset value, with long-term investors “top slicing” their existing holdings.