Norwich Union is launching a European commercial property fund.
- Morley to manage UK's first retail European property fund
Norwich Union is launching a European commercial property fund.
Customers for the first time will be able to invest in a diversified portfolio of office, industrial and retail property, and property-related assets across the European economic area and Switzerland (excluding UK) via a daily priced fund. The main geographic holdings are initially expected to be in France, Germany and Spain.
The value of investments can go down as well as up, and you may not get back your original investment. The value of investments abroad may rise and fall due to exchange rate movements.
The Norwich Union European Property Fund will be available to retail investors in the UK through the Norwich Union Portfolio bond, third-party life and pension links and as a retail collective investment. Developed by Morley Fund Management, Europe’s biggest property fund manager, the fund will be managed by Julian Taylor (see notes to editors).
Neil Davies, director of marketing investments at Norwich Union, said: “This is an exciting launch. The fund is unique as it gives retail investors their first ever opportunity to invest in a daily-priced European property fund. This is the first retail fund of its kind in the UK and our research indicates that it will be popular with investors and advisers.
"We believe that European commercial property is a great investment opportunity and the fund will complement any existing UK commercial property investment. European property returns tend to lag those of UK commercial property, and we anticipate that there is more growth to come.”
Julian Taylor, fund manager, said: “We want the fund to mirror the success of the Norwich Property Trust, which Morley also manages, particularly given the strong diversification characteristics the fund offers and the attractive returns we expect European property to generate over the next five years.
“We have a strong pipeline of deals that we are working on and expect to announce the first acquisitions for the fund in the near future. There are good areas of performance for skilful managers to discover across Europe and the team at Morley is well placed to exploit these on behalf of our clients.”
Investors should remember: The value of property is generally a matter of a valuer’s opinion rather than fact. Investments in property can be illiquid and it may be difficult to encash at certain times.
-ends-
Press office contacts:
Norwich Union
David Gwyer 01904 452828 Out of hours 07800 699508
Louise Soulsby 01904 452617 Out of hours 07800 699526
Morley Fund Management
Strahan Wallis 02078 098618 Out of hours 07910 044424
Notes to editors:
About the Norwich Union European Property Fund
The Norwich Union European Property Fund is available to retail investors through Norwich Union’s Portfolio life bond.
The fund’s target asset mix is 85% direct property, 10% property related listed securities, 5% cash. The direct property assets will be initially focused on core markets of France, Germany and Spain with the remainder split across the other eligible countries for investment.
The fund is a Luxembourg SICAV and managed by Morley Fund Management.
About the Norwich Union Portfolio life bond
Portfolio offers a flexible way to invest for growth or income. Its minimum investment is Ł5,000 and investors can choose to put their money in a selection of 139 cash, bond, property, equity and with-profit funds, which are run by Morley Fund Management and other fund managers.
The European Property Fund has an additional yearly charge of 0.6% in addition to Portfolio’s charges.
About Norwich Union
Norwich Union is the UK’s largest insurer. It is a leading provider of life, pensions and investment products and one of the largest financial adviser (FA) providers. FAs provide over 70% of the company's long-term savings business in the UK.
Norwich Union is the UK’s largest general insurer with a market share of around 14%, with a focus on insurance for individuals and small businesses.
Norwich Union’s news releases and a selection of images are available from Aviva's internet press centre at www.aviva.com/media
Morley Fund Management’s European Team
The fund manager for the European Property Fund is Julian Taylor. He has a strong track record in managing funds with over 15 years’ experience in the investment industry. Paul van der Vaart will be responsible for the listed securities component of the fund.
The Morley European property team consists of 11 full time people, led by Ben Stirling, and part of a wider team of over 80 investment professionals including a dedicated strategy and research team. Morley is the largest property fund manager in Europe** and runs seven successful property funds in continental Europe, primarily targeted at institutional investors.
About Morley Fund Management
Morley Fund Management Limited is the UK-based asset management business of Aviva plc. Firms within the Morley group of companies manage Ł165 billion from offices around the world as at 28 February 2006.
Morley manages both institutional and retail funds under the Morley brand. It also acts as investment manager for a range of retail and institutional investment funds for a growing number of clients.
Further information about Morley Fund Management can be found at www.morleyfm.com
**Oxford Property Consultants, December 2005.
The information published in this section is solely intended for use by members of the media. Customers should not rely on the information contained within these news releases to form the basis of investment decisions.