The West End of London Property Unit Trust ('WELPUT'), managed by Schroders and advised by Grafton Advisors, has continued its strong performance record.
WELPUT's total return for 2010 was 29.1% against the IPD Specialist Funds Index weighted average of 18.8%. The IPD Monthly West End and Mid Town Offices return (an ungeared property return) was 21.5% over the same period.
Over five years WELPUT has delivered a return of 7.1% per annum outperforming both the Specialist Funds Index of -6.2% per annum and IPD West End and Mid Town Offices of 3.9%.
WELPUT has also outperformed its immediate peer group of specialist office funds, further illustrating the long-term outperformance and resilience of London's West End office market and the Trust's active asset management strategy.
Jane Gravestock, Fund Manager of WELPUT, commented: "WELPUT has again delivered exceptional performance demonstrating the strength of its underlying portfolio, its secure financial position and the asset management opportunities which enable us to extract growth on behalf of our investors.
"We are delighted that WELPUT continues to deliver the highest long-term return against its peer group which is testament to the experience and skills of the management team. With the strength of the performance track record and secure financial position, we are keen to progress the current equity raise which will enable us to continue to capture compelling buying opportunities in the London office market."
2010 was an extremely active year for WELPUT. The Trust undertook a £230-million refinancing with Eurohypo and Deutsche and completed in the order of £330 million of purchases and sales to enable capital to be recycled into properties that will benefit from the asset management skills of the Grafton Advisors team.
During 2011 the Trust is progressing an equity raise with a target of £230 million, which is open to both new and existing investors.
At the calendar year-end, the portfolio comprised assets valued at circa £690 million.
Source: FD
