The country’s largest pension scheme has set up the investment vehicle in partnership with Fiera Real Estate with the aim of allocating to “prime small-to-mid-box industrial properties in strategically located urban locations across the UK”, according to a press release from the asset manager.
It will be led by Chris Button, head of investment management for Europe at Fiera Real Estate, and will target “brownfield and established employment sites”. The arrangement will last five years initially, and will target acquisitions worth up to £50m each. Neither party has revealed how much has been invested overall into the joint venture.
Fiera Real Estate said the investment aimed to “capitalise on the flight to quality in UK industrial assets”, and has already made offers on two sites in south-east England with a gross development value of more than £100m.
Alex Turner, head of property at USS, said: “We are looking forward to working with Fiera on this exciting joint venture. USS has a strong track record in the industrial sector, with deep sector knowledge and a £1.5bn industrial portfolio.
“The joint venture provides USS the opportunity to continue to invest in the sector, which is supported by strong tailwinds, with a partner that provides a unique platform while increasing our development activity in the property mandate.”
Charlie Allen, head of European real estate at Fiera Real Estate, added: “Supply-demand imbalances, favourable pricing conditions and the digitalisation of the economy are some of the beta tailwinds driving the investment case in UK logistics, and we will be combining these with our proven ability in origination and delivery to create alpha for our investors.”
Fiera Real Estate manages more than $8.6bn (£6.4bn) of commercial real estate globally, including £3bn in Europe.