PGGM allocates euros 75m to UK Shopping Centre Trust
Standard Life Investments, one of the largest property fund managers in Europe, have announced that PGGM, a leading Dutch pension fund and asset manager, has invested around euros 75m in Standard Life Investments UK Shopping Centre Trust following an agreement in December 2009.
Launched in 2005, the Trust's portfolio currently has a value of approximately £1.2bn (euros 1.3bn). The Trust is structured as a closed-ended Jersey Property Unit Trust providing ‘expert' investors with access to a sub sector where lot size continues to present a barrier to entry. It has a portfolio of nine prime, dominant UK shopping centres. Key assets include Brent Cross Shopping Centre, London and Churchill Square, Brighton.
The investment objective of the Trust is to outperform the shopping centre subsector of the IPD universe over a rolling three-year period. This has been achieved over all time periods since launch.
Mathieu Elshout, Senior Investment Manager, PGGM, said: "We were greatly attracted to Standard Life Investments' UK Shopping Centre Trust. This investment gave us immediate and 100% access to an unleveraged portfolio of prime assets in an important sector of the UK commercial property market.
"While the portfolio is essentially core in nature, the assets are actively managed and the management team demonstrated a deep understanding of the market. Standard Life Investments also adheres to our Responsible Investment policy for Real Estate, a policy which addresses PGGM Investments' policy on integrating material environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues into our real estate investments. It shows Standard Life Investments' commitment to Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) principles."
Ed Jenkins, Fund Manager of Standard Life Investments' UK Shopping Centre Trust, said: "It's a testimony to the quality of the Trust's portfolio that PGGM has chosen to invest with us. PGGM are without doubt one of the biggest investors in Europe, both in terms of assets and reputation. They have meticulous standards of governance and due diligence and I'm delighted that we've matched their expectations.
"Standard Life Investments has a long standing commitment to developing and managing real estate on an environmentally sustainable basis. However, interestingly, PGGM is the first property investor with whom we have agreed specific reporting requirements on sustainability issues. We were quick to agree to this as it's already in line with our existing practice."