AI Fund Awards 2018

18 Acquisition International - 2018 International Fund Awards IF180006 Property Fund Manager of the Year 2018 - UK Keills Limited Founded in the midst of the post Lehman’s financial crisis, Alan Howie and Andy Speedie, two long serving and respected property professionals, embarked on a management buy-out of a property investment business. Alan and Andy have over 28 years’ experience working together in the UK real estate investment industry. The buy-out was designed to protect the interests of long standing clients and to ensure that they were given the first class service they required to see through this difficult period. Over the years Keills has adopted a strong philosophy based around one simple idea: treat your client’s money as you would your own. Alan commented on this approach and how it ensures excellence for his investors. “At Keills, we do not take unnecessary risks or expose clients’ money to excess volatility. As Warren Buffet once said; It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently. We endorse this approach and 10 years later, our principal clients remain with us”. Thanks to this approach the firm has flourished over the years, and today Keills is a specialist property fund management company and is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a registered small UK Real Estate Alternative Fund Manager. Through its FCA authorised subsidiary company, Magarch Limited, Keills runs a number of specialist property investment vehicles for pension fund and High Net Worth investors. There are few, if any, other independent firms in the UK offering this unique blend of highly skilled property professionals, with the necessary regulatory permissions to establish, operate and windup investment structures for a broad range of investors. Another key differentiator is that Keills is entirely focussed on managing risk and delivering the best returns possible for client investors. This approach is emphasised through its continued reference to what they call “the 3 elephants in the room” meaning that the UK and Global economies are constrained by three dominant factors: the level of debt in the UK and globally; escalating health and social care costs; and, finally, the current and forthcoming pension crisis. All three factors constrain economic flexibility and so impact on investment returns and add to investment risk. As such, Keills’ approach to investment takes a long term, risk aware view, an appropriate strategy in a long period of uncertainty. Such dedication to risk management helps differentiate the firm from its competitors. Andy also discusses other ways in which the firm can remain ahead of its competitors. “Over the years we have found that focussing on what the client wants tends to work, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t lead our clients into new areas of investment. We recognise that many investors are looking for new “off-piste” ways to gain exposure to the Real Estate sector, to improve potential investment returns while managing risk to an acceptable level. At present, we are exploring a particular interest in social housing and see real opportunities for institutions, pension funds and HNWIs to invest in this sector.” Drawing on almost 30 years’ experience in the UK Property market and 10 years since it was formed, Keills is an independent property fund manager. We profile the firm to learn more and invited its founders to provide us with a fascinating insight into the company and the options it offers. Company: Keills Limited Contact: Andy Speedie Address: Suite 240, Baltic Chambers, 50 Wellington Street, Glasgow, G2 6HJ, UK Phone: 0141 250 7742 or 07775 792046 Web: www.keills.com Keills Limited Another area discussed that may prove interesting is forestry, which Andy explores in more detail. “The sustainable and long term nature of forestry may be attractive to longer term investors however, the catch here is finding the assets. Most of the UK’s forests are owned within government control (Forestry Commission) and the market outside of this is pretty thin. That is not to say that investment funds can’t access this market and over the years Keills has participated in funds seeking exposure to this sector”. Alan has previously been hailed as an ‘alternatives’ pioneer. “Student accommodation was a true alternative when we first invested in the sector some 25 years ago. Typically, investors were attracted to student accommodation by the long leases available from excellent covenants. This provided the stable long term income they were seeking and attracted much investment, we would now argue that perhaps too much has flowed into this sector. It is a good example though as to how early investment into an alternative can provide solid returns as the investment type becomes mainstream”. Other alternative assets included infrastructural and renewable energy projects which, if packaged correctly, can provide long, inflation linked income streams. However, Keills recognises that such investment is not without political risk. Alan concluded that “there remains a number of strong investment opportunities in this sector, many of significant scale, which we believe could be of real interest to larger investors or to a collective of investors”. Looking ahead, Andy concluded that Keills is positioned to provide clients with secure, long term index-linked income from UK real estate and has the necessary investment management skills, access to deals and regulatory permissions, to set Keills apart from its competitors. “We hope that the potential of alternative property assets will allow us to create attractive investment opportunities for investors from the UK and beyond.”