Real Estate
Singaporean Family Office, Others Smile On UK Retail Parks

The retail parks industry was hit hard by the dramatic shift to home delivery and other ways of shopping when the pandemic struck. Valuations have drawn some investors back in, however.
An Asia-based family office and real estate group are
backing a strategy tapping into the UK retail parks sector that
is seen as oversold and due to recover post-pandemic.
Savills
Investment Management, the international real estate
investment manager, has launched the strategy, aiming to raise
$360 million (around $500 million). Straits Real Estate, the real
estate investment subsidiary of The Straits Trading Company, and
The Land Managers, the property investment arm of the JL Family Office,
are cornerstone investors in the fund.
STC is a Singapore-based conglomerate-investment company with
diversified stakes in resources, property and hospitality. JLFO
manages the private investments of Asia Pacific real estate
veteran John Lim.
The fund will be managed by Harry de Ferry Foster, head of UK at
Savills Investment Management, who also manages the Charities
Property Fund, supported by director Danny Al Dilmi and team.
“The UK retail sector has had a torrid time over the last five
years, particularly the high street and shopping centre sub
sectors. This new fund is targeting assets in a sub sector which
has been overlooked and oversold, but has proven its resilience
to the headwinds facing the sector,” de Ferry Foster said. “This
is a good opportunity to secure assets with a high and secure
income yield and we believe it will be very attractive to
investors.”
Andy Lim, group CEO of JLFO and founder of TLM, added: "The
country [UK] is experiencing a rapid recovery and its growth is
set to be the fastest in Europe. By investing in a defensive
retail asset class, we hope to capitalise on the pent-up demand
from the COVID-19 restrictions over the last couple of
years.”
In a report written in May this year, as lockdowns began to ease,
Savills said: "Despite a pandemic-driven shift toward e-commerce,
the retail warehouse market has demonstrated strong retailer
performance and subsequently displays comparatively strong
occupational statistics, compared to other parts of the UK retail
market."
In July, Knight Frank, the property consultancy and estate agency, said of retail centres: "a number of investors are beginning to capitalise on counter cyclical buying opportunities for shopping centres, with £511 million ($695.2 million) transacted in the period [first half of 2021], and activity expected to increase further as yields stabilise. High street retail accounted for £429 million of capital invested in the period, with buyers focused on unlocking the alternative use potential that exists in some locations, in particular the South East."