F&C Investments today announced the expansion of its real estate fund range, with the launch of a real estate fund offering investors exposure to listed real estate securities globally.

The F&C Global Real Estate Securities Fund is co-managed by Alban Lhonneur and Marcus Phayre-Mudge, who have over eight years and 22 years of experience respectively in the real estate sector. Both Alban and Marcus are part of F&C Investments’ eight strong real estate securities team, which manages over £850 million in real estate equities.

The UCITS-compliant, UK-domiciled OEIC fund uses an enhanced long strategy to invest in global real estate securities markets, with the objective to deliver a total return greater than the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Global Index1, in all market conditions. The portfolio of the fund will be constructed to maintain the same regional exposure as the benchmark, but will use different investment processes to achieve alpha in Europe (15% of the index), North America (50%) and Australia (7%), and track the benchmark in Asia ex- Australia (28%).

The Fund intends to capitalise on the alpha generation track record of F&C Real Estate Securities Fund, a market leading European real estate securities Fund, which has generated 14.35% of net outperformance2 and beaten its benchmark in 13 out of 15 quarters since its launch in April 2010.

Similarly to the F&C Real Estate Securities Fund, the F&C Global Real Estate Securities fund retains a long bias, but compared to traditional long-only products it also has the flexibility to use short positions in individual stocks and indices to actively manage volatility and risk, through a net exposure range of 60%-140%.

Marcus Phayre-Mudge, co-manager, commented: “The new F&C Global Real Estate Securities fund builds on our existing and well established offering in pan-European real estate securities, as we seek to meet the requirements of investors who are increasingly looking for global property investment opportunities. “Historically, global real estate securities have reacted well to improving macro events, offering an attractive alternative to fixed income with an average dividend yield of 3.7%. It is anticipated that global real estate securities could deliver a 7%3 earnings growth for the next year based on rental growth coming through.”

The new fund will fit within the existing range offered by the team, which includes:
? TR Property Investment Trust - long only, closed-ended investment trust, managed by the team since 1996, investing in pan-European equities, with the ability to invest in physical property
? F&C Property Growth & Income Fund - long only, income focused, open ended, Guernsey domiciled fund, launched 2005, investing in a mix of UK physical property & European equities
? F&C Real Estate Securities Fund - enhanced long strategy, open ended, UCITS, Dublin-listed fund, launched 2010, investing in pan-European real estate equities
? F&C Real Estate Equity Long Short Fund – market neutral, absolute return focused, long/short, UCITS, Dublin-domiciled fund, launched 2012, investing in pan-European equities


1 FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Global Net Total Return Index is designed to track the performance of listed real estate companies and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) throughout Asia, Europe and North America.
2 From 8 April 2010 to 31 December 2013
3 UBS Global Real Estate Research


Press enquiries:

F&C Press Office
fandc.sc@fticonsulting.com
Tel: +44 (0) 207 269 9383

Richard Janes
Director, Communications
Richard.janes@fandc.com
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7011 4298


Notes to Editors

About F&C Investments
F&C Investments is a diversified investment manager which traces its origins to the launch of the Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust in 1868. While many asset managers are owned by financial services conglomerates, such as banks or insurance companies, F&C Investments is an independent business listed on the London Stock Exchange as F&C Asset Management plc. and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
F&C Investments is focused exclusively on managing money for its clients. Today the Group operates from offices in nine countries and manages £90.1 billion of assets (as at 30/09/13) for a combination of insurance clients, institutional investors, intermediaries and private individuals which collectively represent in excess of 3 million underlying savers. F&C Investments invests across all major asset classes - equities, fixed income and property - and has specialist expertise in asset allocation, alternative investments, liability driven investments, multi-manager, private equity funds and ESG Investing. The Group includes F&C REIT, a global real estate asset manager.
This information is issued by F&C Management Ltd authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Past performance is not an indicator of future performance. The information does not constitute an offer to enter into any contract or agreement nor is it a solicitation to buy or sell any investment. The value of shares can go down as well as up and investors may not get back the original amount invested. The information is based on sources believed to be reliable but no guarantee, warranty or representation is given as to its accuracy or completeness and F&C Management Ltd accepts no liability in respect of the information or any views expressed herein which may be subject to change without notice at any time. All data is sourced from F&C Management Ltd unless otherwise stated.