New property funds management group
Publicly-listed property service provider LandMark White is preparing to launch a property funds management business, making the most of its debt free position and the falling values in the property market.
The group’s property funds management business will be known as LMW Invest and will focus on creating opportunities for retail investors, with a bias towards the commercial property sector along with industrial, retail, development, tourism and infrastructure assets.
LandMark White owes its origins to research, valuations and property advice.
“Using resources such as these, together with leading property investment managers, our goal is to build leading diversified property portfolios,” said LMW Group chief executive Brad Piltz.
Piltz said LMW Invest aims to harness the broader group’s expertise in property to identify opportunities.
“We will be disciplined and utilise an institutional approach to investment to provide the retail market with traditional, conservative property investments,” Piltz said.
Piltz said that while LMW Invest would have access to the research capacity of the group, he maintained that the research arm would remain an independent arm and would “create no conflicts of interest for existing and future clients of the group”.
The group’s foray into retail property investments comes on the back of strong annual results, with the group reporting a 22.3 per cent increase in profits to $2.10 million on the back of a 7.5 per cent increase in revenue to $30.10 million.
The group has also appointed Michael Este and Linden Toll to the LMW Invest team. Este will be responsible for establishing and managing LMW Invest’s funds, while Toll will be responsible for distribution and marketing.
Este has previously managed a number of unlisted property funds (retail and wholesale) with Investa Property Group and also managed a property securities fund at Advance Funds Management, as well as acting as senior investment analyst and property consultant.
Toll has worked for groups including Orchard Funds Management, Multiplex Capital and Real Estate Capital Partners. Toll is currently the president of the Australian Direct Property Investment Association (ADPIA), the industry body representing the direct property investment industry.
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