October 18, 2022
Fiera Real Estate UK Limited (“FRE”), an affiliate of global investment manager Fiera Capital Corporation (“Fiera Capital”) with over USD121.4bn in AUM, has hired Richard Howe and David Renshaw from Cheyne Capital to set up and run a pan-European real estate debt strategy. The new investment platform has secured £250m in seed commitments and is expected to launch in Q1 2023.
The key driver behind the launch of this strategy is to broaden the product offering available to FRE’s investors by giving them the ability to take advantage of the growing funding gap in European real estate private credit.
The new management team boast a significant track record of lending into the European real estate market across multiple asset classes and legal jurisdictions. This solid experience coupled with their deep network will offer investors the opportunity to secure compelling risk-adjusted returns at conservative leverage positions within the overall capital structure. Further synergies are expected by utilising the expertise of the wider Fiera Capital network, which has existing real estate debt platforms with long-standing track records in Asia-Pacific and Canada.
Before joining FRE, Richard and David worked together in the real estate debt team at Cheyne Capital for five years. Prior to this, Richard held positions at Chenavari Investment Managers, Lloyds and Anglo Irish Bank whilst David worked at Grainger plc, Kintyre Investments and Lloyds Banking Group. They have over 30 years of combined experience and have collectively been responsible for originating and underwriting over £2bn of pan-European debt and equity investments throughout their careers.
The debt strategy will have the remit to invest across multiple asset classes, including residential, logistics, offices, leisure assets and hotels, and will initially be focused on the UK market before expanding into select European markets. All investments will meet environmental and social requirements as set by FRE’s sustainability policy, which aligns with its ambition to drive positive change and contribute to a low carbon economy.
Charles Allen, Head of UK Real Estate at FRE, commented: “The launch of our new real estate debt platform is a natural next step in the development of our product offering. With a team of recognised experts and excellent market coverage, we are well positioned to offer our clients strong risk adjusted returns across Europe at a very compelling time in the market cycle”.
Richard Howe, Co-Head and Managing Director at FRE Debt Investments, commented: “David and I are very excited to start our new career journey together with the team at Fiera. We believe the current market, whilst evolving, will expose numerous opportunities for a well-capitalised and experienced new entrant to secure compelling risk adjusted returns for our investors.”