Six local authorities pool property holdings

Local authorities in Norfolk, East Sussex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire have agreed to pool their real estate holdings to invest in the Access UK Core Fund and Access Global Indirect Fund. Access is pooled fund comprising 11 administering authorities that manages some £45bn of assets. The UK fund has an anticipated target size of £1.7bn, with the global fund seeking a target size of £780m. The county councils join Essex County Council and Hampshire County Council already in the pool. The funds are managed by CBRE Investment Management. It has a mandate to help Access leverage the cost-effective scale of pooling for its local authorities, providing both UK and global real estate investment opportunities and diversification. Mark Kemp-Gee, chairman of the Access joint committee, said: “We now have a total of eight of our administering authorities making significant investments to Access’ property solution, further demonstrating the benefits of the pooling model. Our member authorities can realise a number of positives – in this case, a unified approach, diversification and cost efficiencies – to the ultimate aid of their investment objectives for members.”  Hannah Marshall, chief investment officer,  UK direct real estate at CBRE IM, addd: “With a further six authorities making commitments to the pool’s property solution, bringing a total of £4.1bn of real estate assets under Access pool governance, we look forward to working with Access to build and manage a real estate portfolio that generates both sustainable income and long-term value.”