Pramerica Real Estate Investors has been appointed by John Lewis Partnership Pensions Trust to manage and expand its portfolio of UK property investments following a strategy review and manager selection process, the company announced today.
Pramerica is the European arm of the real estate investment and advisory business of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), headquartered in the US.
The Fund's existing real estate investments currently comprise £180 million (approx. 230 million) of direct and indirect UK property assets, and it is intended that, over time, this will be increased to a target amount of £270 million with a greater focus on direct investments. To date the Fund's property portfolio has been managed against an IPD benchmark target, but the appointment of Pramerica will also see a move to a real return benchmark target.
Pramerica currently has more than £950 million of assets and commitments in the UK for both UK and international clients, representing strong experience in managing UK property assets.
Adrian Mitchell, Pension Investment Manager of John Lewis Partnership Pensions Trust, commented: "Pramerica offers a wealth of experience in the UK property investment market, and I am confident that they have the expertise to maximise the value of our property portfolio on behalf of our pension fund, as we increase our weighting to this important asset class."
Paul Dennis-Jones, Pramerica's Director of UK real estate fund management, commented: "John Lewis Partnership is a great British company and we are delighted to have been selected to manage this prestigious mandate.
"The Pramerica team has extensive experience of identifying and managing diversified assets across the UK property market, and we look forward to working with John Lewis Partnership Pensions Trust as we grow the pension fund's direct UK property portfolio."
Source: FTI Consulting
