The property fund run by financial advice firm AFH has doubled in size in a year, and the company is targeting the same level of growth in the next 18 months.
AFH operates the St Johns Property fund, which invests in physical property assets and has grown to £110m in the past year.
The fund manager, Richard Bryan, said the fund’s investment approach was to secure a "diverse portfolio with solid income and the prospect of capital appreciation.
"We want to understand our tenants’ businesses and to support them to have a successful tenure. We want SJPF to be a landlord of choice and to be approachable to tenants, rather than hindering them with bureaucracy that stops them making best use of the property.
"The fund’s growth ambition will continue, and subject to available property we want to double the size once again within the next 18 months."
AFH, which is listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange, administers £4bn in total as a financial advice and wealth management business.
The company scrapped platform fees for its clients in August 2018 after reporting a turnover of £22.7m for the year to the end of March 2018.
Robin Geffen, who runs the Neptune Balanced fund and has been avoiding UK property investments, said there has been a perceived overdevelopment in some parts of the country, but anti money laundering rules and changes to the tax treatment of such investments could prove to be a drag on demand for UK property.
Ben Yearsley, investment director at Shore Financial Planning said: "We have had a few years of good returns overall for commercial property, largely driven by the trend of industrial and logistics and I don't see the excellent returns continuing. Income/natural yield is likely to be the source of returns for the next few years."
david.thorpe@ft.com
