Principal listed property team resigns
Thelisted property team at Principal Global Investors (PGI) will leave the group next month to launch a boutique business after its three members, Stuart Stuckey, Mark Thorpe-Apps and Ern Koh, resigned from the group early last week.
The moves were announced by US based Principal chief executive Greg Hauser at an adviser roadshow last Monday.
The three staff, who will remain employed by Principal for the next month, plan to launch a start-up listed property boutique to be headed by Stuckey.
However, at this stage the trio would not reveal the specific details of their planned venture.
At present, Principal has no other staff covering the listed property sector but has a number of staff covering the area of direct property.
The operations of PGI covering direct and listed property were the only parts of theBT Funds Management(BTFM) group not to merge with Westpac when Principal in the US sold BT in August last year.
However, BT Funds Management is currently using PGI as a manager on its listed property security funds, as well as supplying property investments into a range of diversified funds.
In late February, Principal indicated it would roll out a new fund focusing on property securities offered to the retail market through master trust and wrap platforms in March or April.
PGI has a substantial presence in the listed property market with $4.5 billion in funds under management. Of that, about $1.5 billion is in the Principal Office Fund.
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