All articles by Shayla Walmsley – Page 53

  • News

    Infrastructure boss takes over at Canada’s OMERS

    2007-03-05T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE – The CA$48bn (€31bn) Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Scheme (OMERS) has appointed Michael Nobrega, the current head of its infrastructure subsidiary, as its new CEO. Michael Rolland, currently senior vice president...

  • News

    ABP, Keva in property private equity move

    2007-03-05T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE – Finnish local government pension fund Keva and ABP, Europe’s largest pension fund, were among eight initial investors in a pan-European real estate private equity fund launched last week by Spanish property group Neinver....

  • News

    Hermes sells upmarket retail

    2007-02-26T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE – Hermes, the UK asset manager owned by the BT Pension Scheme, is to sell its 50% stake in the Glaswegian specialist shopping centre Princes Square. The asking price for the centre, which is co-owned by the insurer Clerical Medi...

  • News

    Threadneedle FoF ‘meets European demand’

    2007-02-26T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE – Threadneedle is to launch a pooled property fund of funds in response to demand for diversified European exposure from UK and continental European pension funds, the fund manager announced last week. The Luxembourg-listed SICA...

  • News

    SLI abandons caution on Germany

    2007-02-26T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE – Standard Life Investments has abandoned its long-held caution over the sustainability of Germany’s nascent economic recovery and has made its first investments in the market. The fund manager announced last week that it had ...

  • News

    German pension scheme sells off Hamburg residential

    2007-02-19T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE - An unnamed north German pension fund has sold a 55-unit residential portfolio in Hamburg to property firm Hanseati for €4m. The ageing portfolio of 55 housing units and 28 parking bays is located in Alsterdorf-Winterhude. The ...

  • News

    No slowdown in real estate transactions in Europe’s €6trn market

    2007-02-19T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE - A study of European portfolio transactions claims new supply and niche portfolios will drive continued investment in the real estate sector. The report, published last week by Sireo Research and the Centre for European Economic Res...

  • News

    Unlisted UK real estate returned 69%in 2006

    2007-02-19T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE - Unlisted UK real estate funds returned 69% last year, driven by the outperformance of the City and West End, according to the Association of Real Estate Funds (AREF). The association’s newly launched quarterly report claims th...

  • News

    Welsh scheme to invest €19m in unlisted property

    2007-02-19T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE – Welsh local authority Powys County Council is tendering for a multi-manager to handle £13m (€19m) of European (ex. UK) unlisted real estate for its pension fund. An investment panel of five local councillors will ap...

  • News

    Euro-REITS take off as US veterans de-list

    2007-02-12T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE - European investors are looking to real estate for high yields and low volatility – except Dutch pension funds, which are looking for geographic diversification, according to a RREEF report into the global real estate securities ma...

  • News

    European office ‘will continue to perform’

    2007-02-12T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE - European office will continue to perform overall in 2007, according to IVG’s recently published Real Estate Barometer. IVG attributed the sub-sector’s "extraordinary" sales volume last year to falling yields...

  • News

    HSBC considers selling Canary Wharf HQ

    2007-02-12T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE - UK banking giant HSBC is considering selling off its UK headquarters in Canary Wharf in a 15-year sale-and-leaseback deal. No price tag has yet been attached to the world’s largest single-occupier building. An HSBC spokesman s...

  • News

    AP3 to set up Asian property fund

    2007-02-12T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE - AP3, the third Swedish buffer fund, has awarded a second mandate in as many weeks to Aberdeen Property Investors – this one for a €250m Asian property fund-of-funds. The fund is scheduled to complete its fundraising by Q2 20...

  • News

    London’s Croydon diversifies into real estate

    2007-02-05T16:58:00Z

    The fund, which is currently exclusively invested in equities, is seeking a real estate investment manager for a 10-year contract to manage a property portfolio of between £40m—£60m (€60.5m—€91m).

  • News

    UK commercial outperforms equities – for now, says IPD

    2007-02-05T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE - Property outperformed both UK equities and bonds in 2006, returning 17.9% against 16.8% for UK equities and –0.1% for bonds, according to figures just published by IPD. However, at 3.7% Q4 delivered a return slightly down from...

  • News

    Institutions could miss out on slice of €1bn ‘gherkin’

    2007-02-05T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE - Reinsurance firm Swiss Re has sold its landmark London headquarters in St Mary Axe to – known to Londoners as The Gherkin – to German property firm IVG for £630m (€950m). IVG acquired the building for one of i...

  • News

    M&S plugs pension deficit with real estate

    2007-01-29T16:22:00Z

    REAL ESTATE - UK retailer Marks & Spencer is to plug a £704m (€1.07bn) hole in its pension fund via a property partnership that will see the retailer sell and lease back its £1.1bn property portfolio.

  • News

    Mars pension fund sells off Nottingham office

    2007-01-29T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE - Mars Pension Trustees have sold off a four-story Nottingham office block to fund managers Warner Estate Holdings and Morley Fund Management for €23.2m. A spokesman for the UK pension fund declined to comment on the reasons for...

  • News

    UK ports report by MPs slams foreign investors

    2007-01-29T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE – A UK parliamentary committee has urged government caution over attempts by foreign investors to acquire British ports. The recommendation would have blocked Borealis, a subsidiary of Canadian pension fund Ontario Municipal Emp...

  • News

    Dutch investor ups allocation with UK retail

    2007-01-29T00:00:00Z

    REAL ESTATE – Netherlands-based TKP Pensioen, a subsidiary of Aegon, last week announced that it had invested €52m in Standard Life’s €2.8bn UK shopping centre fund. The Dutch pension fund manager said the move w as part ...