At a time when many investors are wary of the UK property market post-Brexit, Aviva’s global asset management arm reiterated that it “believes real estate still offers better risk-adjusted returns compared with other asset classes”.
It noted that the real estate yield spread over bonds “remains particularly healthy” and that “high quality assets in ‘destination’ locations should prove resilient.”
New hires, Brown and Wilkinson, will assist with the development and asset management of retail properties across the UK, in an attempt to “refresh” Aviva Investors’ portfolios.
The pair will be based in London and report to head of retail asset management Tony Christie.
Brown joins the group from Capital & Countries, where she managed over 120 units on the Covent Garden Estate. Prior to that, she was an assistant fund manager at CBRE Global Investors, looking after £420m of property assets.
Wilkinson, meanwhile, has a background in property funding and logistics, cultivated at Tesco. Most recently, he assisted the FTSE 100 supermarket with a series of office acquisitions and disposals and worked on the development of a 123 bedroom hotel at the Tesco Head Office.
Christie said of the new appointees: “I am very pleased to welcome Katie and Chris to Aviva Investors. As we continue to refresh our retail real estate portfolios, I am sure their experience will be of great help in developing and enhancing the properties we manage.”
