RLAM increases property assets with transfer of Co-op’s property portfolio

Royal London Asset Management announces the increase of its property assets by almost 50% as a result of the transfer of The Co-operative Asset Management’s (TCAM) £1.6 billion property portfolio from AXA Real Estate to RLAM’s in-house property team on 28 November 2014.

The transfer has increased the total amount of assets managed by the team from £3.4 billion (as at 30 September 2014) to more than £5 billion, strengthening RLAM’s position as a key player in the UK commercial property market. Overall, the £5bn includes property-related assets in the life and pension funds managed by RLAM, as well as the Royal London Property Fund (RLPF), which was the first existing fund to convert to the Property Authorised Investment Fund (PAIF) structure in 2010.

In July 2013, Royal London acquired the Co-operative Insurance Society and the Co-operative Asset Management Company Limited (TCAM).  The acquisition brings RLAM’s funds under management from £78.4bn (as at 30 September 2014) to £80bn.

As a result of the transfer, RLAM has also acquired additional expertise:

Daniel Shepherd – a Senior Asset Manager who will work on the Office and Industrial portfolio

Yasin Sadiq – a Senior Asset Manager who will concentrate on the Retail portfolio

Anita Maslin –joins the team in the new role of Property Administrator

This completes the property team’s recruitment requirements, and greatly supplements their capabilities, following the recent hires of Rachel Holt, a Senior Asset Manager working on the Retail portfolio, and Mark Carroll, a Development Manager working alongside Philip Sutton and Matt Bird.

Gareth Dickinson, Head of Property at RLAM, commented:

“I am absolutely delighted to welcome our new colleagues at a time when funds under management have just exceeded £5bn.  This expansion has strengthened our sector specialisms with dedicated and expanded Retail, Office and Development Management teams.”

RLAM’s property team has made considerable property purchases and sales of almost £1 billion in the last two years.  The RLPF has also seen an increase in the size of the Fund from £215 million to over £300 million during 2014. As a result of inflows into the assets of the team, further transactional activity is expected in 2015. 

RLAM’s property team continues to have a very active refurbishment and development programme planned across the funds they manage. Schemes include a new pre-let 100,000 sq ft headquarters office in Egham and substantial refurbishments of office properties in Reading and Staines. New build offices on Rathbone Place and major refurbishments on Moorgate and Warwick Street are just a few of the schemes in Central London.  The team is set to deliver over 400,000 sq ft of new build or substantial office refurbishments over the next 12 to 24 months. Across the Funds the total overall development and refurbishment work is c £460m delivering 2.6m sq ft of new or high quality refurbished floor space.