Property

The property sector currently benefits from a highly favourable background, with the interest rate cycle, the credit cycle and the economic cycle all in a highly supportive phase. In addition, the supply cycle is positive given the relatively low levels of new space coming on to the market. Moreover, the dearth of income opportunities in other asset classes is driving investor flows into the sector, a development which is also proving highly supportive. However, it is important to remember that due to high transaction costs, property is a long-term investment and that income, rather than capital appreciation, is the key driver of total returns.

In 2010 we teamed up with Stanhope, one of the UK’s leading commercial real estate developers and the Carbon Trust, a not-for-profit company with the mission to accelerate the move to a low carbon economy. This innovative partnership is designed to capitalise on growing investor demand for attractive, socially-responsible investment opportunities, as well as the growing demand from occupiers for workplaces that deliver efficiency in terms of lower carbon outputs and reduced occupancy costs.