Swiss cash boosts Mayfair

Mayfair Capital is to launch a new £250m UK fund following the firm’s acquisition by Swiss Life Asset Managers. Seed capital from Swiss Life will help seed the vehicle, which will be “thematic” and target demographic, e-commerce and infrastructure-related investments. With gearing of around 35%, it will have total firepower of close to £385m. Fund raising is due to begin formally in the first quarter of next year. Mayfair has 18 employees and £1bn of assets under management, including its £470m Mayfair Capital Property Income Trust for Charities. “It will be a bit of a step up for Mayfair in terms of the size of our funds at initial launch,” said chief executive James Thornton. “We are much more thematically inclined in terms of how we analyse the market. We think a lot of today’s property is becoming obsolete because of changes in the economy. When you look at IPD as a benchmark, I think it is increasingly out of date.” Swiss Life, incorporating Mayfair, has £55.3bn of property assets under management. It also owns German office specialist fund manager Corpus Siero and Swiss Life REIM in France, previously Viveris. Mayfair will share a centralised risk committee that will approve deals for its sister firms. When pan-European equity is raised by Swiss Life it will be invested in the UK via Mayfair. “They are long-term investors like us and we see a good strategic fit. The excitement for us is access to balance sheet capital and long-terms insurance funds to seed new products,” Thornton said. • To send feedback, e-mail david.hatcher@estatesgazette.com or tweet @hatcherdavid or @estatesgazette