Schroders takes major stake in Asian investment manager

Schroders’ real estate business has made a further push into Asia, taking a majority stake in a regional investment manager with $1.1bn (£890m) of assets under management. The deal sees Schroders buy into Pamfleet, a value-add manager with offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore. Duncan Owen, global head of Schroder Real Estate, told EG the deal was “tailor-made” and gives the group a new opportunity to bring Asian money into Europe and vice versa. “They have some very large institutional investors who are investors and clients with us, so there’s a real knit there,” he added. “They are very well thought of by some of Asia’s big investors who have been seeking to invest in Europe for some time. And some of our investors – German, Scandinavian and Swiss – have been looking to invest into Asia. From a client perspective, it just made so much sense.” Pamfleet, which will be renamed Schroder Pamfleet, has four funds, the most recent of which held a final close last year at $450m. The firm, founded in 2000, will keep its 19 team members, and its fund managers will stay in place. The board will comprise Owen, Pamfleet chief executive Andrew Moore and fellow director Singuz Lo, Schroder Real Estate COO Melinda Knatchbull and Amy Cho, chief executive of Schroders Hong Kong. The deal is particularly notable given that much of it was completed during the UK’s coronavirus lockdown, adding to the hard work, Owen said. “Normally this type of transaction may have meant half a dozen or so flights to Asia, and we’ve done it over Zoom and Microsoft Teams,” he added. “We agreed just before year-end last year so we did have some advantages in that, and I’ve known Andrew and the founders for over a decade… But the heavy lifting, due diligence, the real nitty gritty of the deal has been during lockdown.” Speaking to EG earlier this year, Owen singled out Asia as a near-term target for the company’s growth. “Core-plus and value-add activity in some of those large Asian markets is a fantastic opportunity,” Owen said. “Ten years ago, Asia was 18% of the global investable universe in total. At the end of last year, it’s estimated at 42%. He added: “What we are aiming to do is look in Asia in the way that we have looked in Europe. Good, CBD locations, but locations that are capable of being actively managed – and the best active management opportunities are where you can attract multiple uses, so residential uses, hotel uses, office uses, retail uses, competing for the same real estate. That gives us sustainable demand.” To send feedback, e-mail tim.burke@egi.co.uk or tweet @_tim_burke or @estatesgazette