FINANCE: Social impact investor Bridges Ventures has raised £212m for its third property fund.
The firm is attracting capital from investors looking for returns that also fit in with their own corporate social responsibility agenda.
The Property Alternatives Fund III has received commitments from institutional investors, family offices, insurers and foundations.
In the UK, local authority pension funds in Greater Manchester, Merseyside and South Yorkshire have all invested in the fund alongside US pension and insurance companies.
Simon Ringer, head of property funds and partner at Bridges Ventures, said: “We are pleased that we have secured some major names from the US this time around, and I’m sure these will grow over time.”
The fund is aiming for a 15-20% IRR over its intended eight-year life. It has a maximum investment potential of £500m with 57.6% gearing, making it the largest fund that Bridges Ventures has raised.
Bridges Ventures will select investment opportunities across all sectors based upon sustainability and social impact criteria. It will look to take on asset management and development.
Its advisory board includes the “father of social impact investment”, Sir Ronald Cohen, and the founder and chief executive of Cale Street Partners and former head of real estate principal investment at Goldman Sachs, Ed Siskind.
The fund has already allocated £80m of its £120m first close in April 2014 across six transactions around the UK, with more investments already at the due diligence stage.
These include the £85m purchase of the Evans Easyspace portfolio of 50 serviced offices; a 240-home development, the Vinyl Factory, in Hayes, Hillingdon (pictured); and Barclays House, an environmentally led office refurbishment in Leeds.
The fund manager will look to raise a further fund should this vintage prove a success.
