Perpetual and James Fielding announce property securities venture
03 Oct 2002
Perpetual Trustees Australia Limited and James Fielding Group are joining forces to create a new competitor in the listed property securities funds marketplace.
Perpetual and James Fielding Holdings will each have a 50% equity interest in the new venture, to be named Perpetual James Fielding, which will offer active management of listed property securities to the retail, masterfund and institutional markets.
Mr Greg Paramor, executive chairman of James Fielding Group said that Perpetual James Fielding will pursue a range of growth opportunities in the listed property securities market.
"Perpetual's brand name and strong relationships with institutional investors, financial advisors and masterfunds, combined with the James Fielding team's successful track record in property, will create a strong new competitor in this market segment.
"There has been compound annual growth of 18% of the ASX LPT index since 1997 and we believe there will be continued long term strong growth for property securities.
"While the rate of return may slow from time to time, we expect good returns from property and a strong market demand over the long term. For example, the continued growth of superannuation funds will mean expanding demand for a diversified range of growth investment products, including listed property securities," Mr Paramor said.
Mr Graham Bradley, managing director of Perpetual said that the new venture further diversifies the range of investment products offered by the group.
"It is a further example of Perpetual's approach of business partnering to add value to our investors, clients, and shareholders and provide additional opportunities for our employees.
"Perpetual James Fielding will allow us to further broaden our investment offerings to personal investors, advisors, and institutions with an active property securities management alternative.
"We believe that by combining the complementary expertise of the venture partners we can achieve growth in this segment faster than if we started an active property securities investment operation alone," Mr Bradley said.
Mr Paramor and Mr Bradley both commented that an attraction of the new venture to them was that the products developed by Perpetual James Fielding will complement the existing range of investment products offered by each of Perpetual Investments and the James Fielding Group.
Perpetual intends that its existing property securities portfolios, currently managed on an index basis, will be managed by the new venture on an active basis in the future. Mr Sean Murray will be Head of Property Securities, effective January 2, 2003.
Perpetual and James Fielding Group will each appoint two directors to the board of Perpetual James Fielding. Mr Graham Bradley will be appointed the first chairman, and the chairmanship will rotate every 12 months thereafter.