Wealth manager Investec has launched a UK real estate equity investment strategy and plans to raise £250 million in the next two years.
Called “Realis”, the strategy is aimed at global investors and gives them access to “institutional-quality UK real estate and the attractive returns it offers”.
Investec – which runs a roughly £3 billion loan book on its real estate platform – will commit equity to each acquisition alongside investors.
The strategy is led by Yon Papageorgiou, head of real estate equity investments, who joined Investec in August 2022 from TwentyTwo Real Estate.
Investec said the launch of Realis follows a period of rapid repricing within certain parts of the real estate market and there is increasing distress in certain sectors, offering an attractive entry point for investors with no legacy issues.
Realis recently closed its first investment, acquiring a 45,500 sq ft office in Guildford. The transaction was funded with equity commitments from investors based in the UK and the Channel Islands, Switzerland and South Africa.
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Papageorgiou said: “What differentiates this strategy is the combination of Investec’s 30-year through-the-cycle track record, its data-led approach to investing and its unparalleled network of best-in-class operating partners. All of these factors mean we are uniquely placed to access off-market opportunities at attractive pricing and then execute a business plan that generates significant outperformance.”
He added that UK commercial real estate is witnessing an “unprecedented repricing moment”.
Mark Bladon, head of Investec real estate, said global recognised the attractive total return characteristics that UK real estate can offer.
