December 23, 2020
Despite the unprecedented circumstances that we have all found ourselves in, it has been a busy year at Fiera Real Estate.
In January, after 27 years as Palmer Capital, we rebranded to the UK arm of Fiera Real Estate, the global real estate investment management firm with £3.3bn assets under management (“AUM”).
Fiera Real Estate is wholly owned by Fiera Capital Corporation, a leading multi-product investment-management firm with more than USD133bn of AUM. Fiera Capital provides Fiera Real Estate with access to global investment market intelligence, which enhances its ability to innovate within a framework that emphasizes risk assessment and mitigation.
Over the course of 2020, Fiera Real Estate UK (“FRE UK”) developed 170,000 sq ft of logistics space and achieved a 40% weighted average project gross IRR across our industrial projects. In the residential space, FRE UK committed or consented 1,293 new residential units and achieved a 30% weighted average project gross IRR. In the office space, FRE UK has 54,000 sq ft in planning, and achieved our largest office sale to date at Halo, Bristol, part of the award winning Finzels Reach scheme, for c. £70m.
FRE UK has continued to work closely with our tenants over the course of the pandemic and our approach to tenant engagement more generally has been reinforced by the strength of our rental collection compared to the wider market. The Fiera Real Estate Long Income Fund (“FRELIF”) achieved 93% of rent collected since March against 67.7% market average, according to Remit Consulting (based on 125,000 tenancies).
FRE UK has always put community and sustainability at the heart of what we do, and this year, we hired a dedicated ESG resource to drive our strategy forward. Our Opportunity Funds have all achieved a Green Star rating, and our new office development in Bristol, targeting BREEAM Outstanding, is set to be one of the greenest office buildings in the UK. In April of this year, FRE UK and Angle Property made available two disused buildings at our Headley Court property to the NHS, providing them with a 300-bed temporary hospital. The buildings are currently being used by the NHS on a no-cost, rent free basis to rehabilitate COVID-19 patients in Surrey.
Despite spending the majority of the year working remotely, FRE UK has raised and donated over £42,000 for charity this year, with LandAid being our main charity focus. As a funding partner in LandAid, we are committed to achieving lasting change to the lives of young homeless people.
It was announced last month that Fiera Real Estate has been ranked in IPE’s Top 150 Real Estate Investment Managers 2020 Index, which is ranked by AUM, for which we achieved the 134th ranking. Working closely with the Canadian division, the UK team continues to pursue its mission to build a best in class global real estate investment management platform and to better serve its growing international client base.
Looking ahead to 2021, we believe that the world will be brighter, we will all be stronger and more connected, and Fiera Real Estate will remain passionate about creating high quality and sustainable real estate for its clients.