Last updated July 19th 2022
Aviva Investors
Aviva Investors is one of Europe’s largest commercial property managers, with around £268 billion of assets under management with £216 billion managed for its parent company Aviva plc, the UK’s – and one of the world”s – largest insurance groups.
Aviva Investors provides a range of asset management solutions to its retail, wholesale and instituional clients. Clients include pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, national and local government bodies, wealth managers, charities and companies. The business employs over 1500 people in 14 countries and in 2021 invested some £4.3 billion in low carbon and renewable infrastructure.
Aviva Investors formed a new real assets business in 2018, bringing together its direct real estate, infrastructure, structured finance and private debt under a single leadership and operating structure to meet what it sees as growing demand for investment allocations in ”alternative strategies”. Mark Versey was appointed chief executive of Aviva Investors in January 2021.
In spring 2022, the group said that it expects that UK Real Assets will offer better growth potential than continental Europe, reflecting the reopening of the UK economy and stronger gdp prospects.
To view the financials for Aviva plc, visit Companies House and use Company ID 02468686.
Aviva plc has had a turbulent time in the past decade but its fortunes have improved in recent years. In 2021, Aviva Investors maintained good trading momentum with net flows of £1.5 billion, compared to an outflow of £1.1 billion previously. But Aviva Investors operating profit rose by 64% to £41 million in 2021 from £25 million previously and its investment performance improved significantly. Overall Aviva plc produced a solid performance; although it reported a 10% dip in adjusted operating profits to £1,634 million, the group said it had increased confidence and that it estimated a 40% increase in the dividend would be paid in 2022. Chief executive Amanda Blanc said 2021 was a year of significant strategic progress and after the sale of of eight non-core businesses, the group’s financial position was strengthened and Aviva was now a much simpler, leaner business, focused on its core markets in the UK, Ireland and Canada.
Global Real Estate
The group”s specialist strengths include healthcare, regeneration, student accommodation and high lease-to-value assets. The group was the first to launch an authorised property trust in the UK and the first to create a sustainable property fund.
Aviva Investors was also a major investor in the SouthGate shopping centre in Bath, the first major development in the city centre since the 1970s. Private rented residential and infrastructure are other key sectors.
In early spring 2022, Aviva Investors formed a jv partnership with Allianz – Allianz Real Estate – as part of its continuing major development project of new mixed-use retail and office buildings at 1 Liverpool Street and 101 Moorgate, close to the new Crossrail station in the City. 1 Liverpool Street will provide 176,000 sq ft of office and retail space over a ground and upper ten floors and 101 Moorgate involves 73,000 sq ft of office and retail space over its ground and six upper floors.
More recently, in summer 2022, Aviva Investors, completed a major refurbishment project at Ealing Gateway, one of the west London area”s largest office buildings with six upper floors, following the acquisition of the 84,000 sq ft building in 2017. It involved storage for 80 bicycles and upgrades to the building management systems.
Meanwhile in spring 2022, the group highlighted its plans to become a net zero carbon emissions company by 2040. Action on this front will include investing directly in and financing £1.4 billion of low-carbon and renewable energy infrastructure and buildings by 2025 and expanding its total renewable energy capacity to 1.1 gigawatts by 2025.
As part of its decarbonisation plans, in spring 2022 Aviva Investors unveiled plans to refurbish 40,000 sq ft of office property at 30 Golden Square in Soho, W1. The work will be led by Structure Tone.
Elsewhere in the capital in late 2021, the group announced plans for a major refurbishment of Curtain House, Hoxton, after acquiring the Grade II listed Victorian warehouse.
In spring 2022, Aviva Investors provided up to an extra £100 million of funding to rural full-fibre specialists County Broadband – building on an earlier £46 million investment – and enabling the Essex-based provider to roll out its network across rural areas in the East of England.
Aviva Investors is also involved in a £400 million investment to help fund the construction of the world’s largest offshore windfarm, Hornsea 1,100km off the North East coast with an installed capacity of 1,218MW.
Glenigan Data
Glenigan data shows that Aviva Investors is involved with a variety of significant projects around the country. The group is the client on the £75.4 million Fenchurch Development in the City involving mainly office space over two basement levels and 18 upper storeys over a total of 45,614 sq m and where work is set to start in late 2022 and run for 24 months (Project ID: 14252496). Aviva Investors is also the client on a £14 million hotel/restaurant/supermarket scheme in Bristol, Premier Inn Fox Den Road, where detailed plans have been granted and work is due to start in late summer 2022 and run for 13 months (Project ID: 19127953).
Conclusion: Set to remain a significant player in the UK and European property markets
As the investment arm of the UK’s biggest insurance company, Aviva Investors is a significant player in the UK and European property markets. Today, the group is well-placed to take advantage of growing opportunities in the affordable social housing, industrial property and renewable/sustainable infrastructure sectors. And whilst the group is conscious of the challenges facing the UK commmercial property market, it remains a significant investor on the new development scene on projects ranging from offshore windfarms to City offices.
How to win work with Aviva Investors
Aviva UK’s website at www.avivainvestors.co.uk includes policy statements on its approach to stewardship, corporate governance and corporate responsibility.
Aviva Investors believes that better long-term investment returns come from companies that conduct business in a sustainable and responsible manner and it includes environmental, social and corporate governance in its investment process.
Aviva Investors was a founding signatory of the UN Principles for Responsible Investment, launched in 2006. Queries to Aviva Investors Real Assets are directed to use an email address: stakeholder.engagement@avivainvestors.com
Contacts:
Ben Sanderson, Managing Director, Real Estate.
Tel 0207 809 6000
James Stevens, Head of Real Estate Investment
Tel: 0207 908 6000