Property investment expert Jim Rehlaender is set to debut his new asset management house in the UK retail market in the first half of 2015.
The manager left European Investors Inc (EII), which ran property funds for Schroders, earlier this year to set up his own company Northwood Securities.
Mr Rehlaender said he had been able to take senior colleagues with him and set up a Cayman-domiciled property fund. He was also aiming to launch a Dublin-domiciled version, which would be available to UK retail investors.
“It will essentially be the same strategy across domiciles,” he said.
The Schroder Global Property Securities fund returned 60.6 per cent during Mr Rehlaender’s tenure from December 2005 to August this year – well above the average return of 19 per cent by the IMA Property sector, according to data from FE Analytics.
However, the fund did underperform its EPRA/NAREIT Developed index in that timeframe by 17 percentage points.
Mr Rehlaender said his new funds would be similar to those he ran for Schroders and EII, but they would have an absolute return mentality and be more concentrated than his Schroders vehicles.
He added he would also look to smaller-sized companies, citing UK-based Great Portland or Derwent London as stocks he favoured.
The manager added he believed investments in direct property, particularly in the UK, had been oversubscribed and that investors would “come running back to securities”.
