AEW Europe forms UK real estate fund management partnership (UK)

AEW Europe has announced the creation of AEW UK, a fund management partnership focused on the UK real estate market, with the transfer of the business interests of Arbuthnot Real Estate Investment Management (ArbreIM) from Arbuthnot Banking Group. AEW UK is a joint venture owned equally by AEW Europe and the management team of what was formerly ArbreIM.

Rob Wilkinson, Head of European Fund Management at AEW Europe said: "The opportunity to partner with such an experienced and successful team of like-minded real estate professionals rarely occurs, so we jumped at the chance. The team's extensive experience and expertise in the UK market is highly complementary to AEW Europe's existing real estate fund management platform."

Wilkinson added that the new partnership represents the next step in the evolution of AEW Europe's business in the strategically important UK market. AEW Europe has successfully invested significant client capital in the UK market through its opportunity funds and has harvested substantial gains as a result of the recent re-pricing in this market. The new partnership will enable AEW Europe to offer clients the full range of investment opportunities in the UK market ranging from core, through to opportunistic funds, and separate accounts.

AEW UK will be led by Richard Tanner, formerly Managing Director at ArbreIM, where he was Head of Investment Strategy for the UK real estate business. Prior to that, he was Managing Director at UBS Global Asset Management. Tanner's senior management team will comprise all of the former ArbreIM team including:

  • Rachel McIsaac (Asset Management Director)
  • Catherine Delplace (Operations and Product Development Director)
  • Nick Winsley (Investment Director)
  • Dana Eisner (Client Management and Capital Raising Director)


The senior AEW UK team has worked together since 1994 and been involved in the launch and successful management of seven funds in the last 15 years growing assets under management to around £3 billion, including UBS' flagship Triton Property Fund, which, during their tenure, became one of the UK's largest and most successful real estate funds.

The new partnership plans to launch an open-ended core UK property fund under the AEW UK brand in early 2011.

Richard Tanner, Managing Director at AEW UK said: "The strategic fit for our team with AEW Europe, a global real estate investment platform, was compelling. We part company with Arbuthnot Banking Group on amicable terms and look forward to being part of AEW's global platform."

The management team of ArbreIM were advised by The Frome Partnership.

Source: Bellier Financial

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