Chris Hunt joins the firm from Cushman & Wakefield where he worked both in office agency and investment.
The Property Unit Trust (PUT) currently has £800m under management, over half of which (£427m) has been invested in the past three years.
It was launched in 2006 and invests in a range of UK commercial property.
Real estate state of play
A report by Jones Lang LaSalle suggests relative health in the property investment market as global real estate transactions were valued at an aggregate $105bn for Q1 2013, the highest level for five years.
At a European level, the average real estate transaction is up €7bn to €47bn, compared to €40bn in 2012. London, Paris and Moscow were all in the top ten global cities by volume, and accounted for a combined $11bn of the total $40bn in transaction capital raised during Q1 2013.
Over half of transactions in these cities were crossborder, as overseas investors sought exposure to the largest European markets.
The report warned house-building rates in the UK remain very low, and well below the rate needed to keep up with the pace of population growth, however.
UK story
Further evidence of the popularity of property investments came earlier in the week when Gravis Capital Partners announced that its GCP Student Living REIT was oversubscribed, attracting £20m more than its £50m target.
Robert Boag, Manager, UK Commercial Property Trust, said: “In 2012, direct UK commercial property delivered a total return of 2.7% and a solid income return of 6.0% more than compensated for a modest decline in capital values according to the IPD Quarterly Index.
“This performance again demonstrated commercial property’s resilience against the background of a faltering UK economy, and the initial figures for Q1 2013 suggest a further improvement.
“Commercial property continues to justify its role in a diversified investment portfolio, particularly given the current uncertainty and volatility across other asset classes.”
