Aviva investors launches real estate fund for liability matching

Aviva Investors has launched the REaLM (real estate and liability matching) multi-sector fund which has received initial investment from a UK pension fund.

The multi-sector fund will invest across five specialist unregulated funds that invest in social housing, ground rents, infrastructure, student accommodation and commercial assets. In the last year, the funds have seen £725 million invested from UK pension funds looking for long-term, inflation-linked income streams for liability matching. The fund’s assets are benchmarked against UK index-linked Gilts, and typical lease lengths are between 25 and 30 years. The fund has been launched at a time of increased interest in housing investments by local authorities. The Greater Manchester Pension Fund is backing the construction of 240 new homes in Manchester with £25 million in a partnership with Manchester Council and The Homes and Communities Agency. Greater Manchester Pension Fund chair, Kieran Quinn, said: “I’m proud that we are able to use the pension fund to invest in the building of much needed homes in Greater Manchester whilst securing a good return to fund the pensions of the workforce.”