Westbury Asset Management Ltd is launching The Westbury Property Fund, which will invest in a portfolio of commercial property across the UK.
The aim of the fund is to provide long-term capital and income growth by investing in a balanced portfolio, with up to 10% of the fund available for investing in venture property projects. The company has already arranged to buy a £45m property portfolio, and has set a timetable of one year to invest the rest of the £245m it hopes to raise.
The money for the fund will be raised by the issuing of shares ‘ a ‘placing’.
There will be two classes of share, each costing 100p. Income shares, which will yield 8% a year and are paid quarterly, can be redeemed for the original 100p in 2010, and capital shares, which will carry entitlement to all income after paying bank debt and the redemption of the income shares.
Commenting on the fund launch, Richard Burrell, partner at Westbury, said: ‘The Westbury property fund with a fixed fee structure and fixed redemption date offers investors an attractive alternative to quoted property company shares and shares in undated property investment trusts.’
With a stated return the income shares are the most stable of the two classes, but the fund is aiming for a rate of return of 15% on the capital shares, whose owners can vote to end the fund in 2009 and sell the property portfolio to release its equity.
