Life assurance company Friends Life has appointed Pramerica Investment Management's commercial mortgage business to manage a 拢500 mln (鈧�590 mln) investment mandate.
Life assurance company Friends Life has appointed Pramerica Investment Management's commercial mortgage business to manage a 拢500 mln (鈧�590 mln) investment mandate.
The investment focus will be on UK-based senior commercial real estate loans, with a fixed rate and maturities of between five and 15 years, with loans being originated by Pramerica's London-based mortgage business, Pricoa Mortgage Capital Company.
Friends Life said the move will increase returns and diversify its portfolio away from corporate bonds, as the company鈥檚 annuity funds do not have exposure to commercial property rental flows.
'After extended analysis of our annuity fund portfolios, we identified CRE loans as an attractive alternative source of assets to effectively meet the ongoing needs of the funds,' said Mark Versey, CIO at Friends Life.
Michael Jameson, head of Pramerica鈥檚 commercial mortgage institutional funds management business, said that there is growing demand among commercial property owners and borrowers in Europe to seek financing from well-established, experienced global lenders.
'That demand, combined with the strategic opportunities available in the current economic climate, is why we entered Europe,' he added.
