Pramerica launches UK real estate income fund

Pramerica Real Estate Investors,the European property arm of Prudential Financial, is to launch an open-ended fund for institutional investors keen to harness high income returns available in UK commercial property.

The Pramerica UK Real Income Fund will invest in a portfolio of assets with low levels of depreciation and volatility let to companies with low credit risk on long leases with fixed or inflation-linked rents.

The fund will target assets with potential to track and exceed the UK Retail Price Index by between 4 and 5 percent,after fees and costs, Pramerica said, adding that it could grow to 500 million pounds ($817.5 million) over the next five years.

The fund will be managed by Pramerica's newly established UK real estate team, comprising Paul Dennis Jones, Charles Croweand Andrew Grigson, who departed en masse from UBS Global Asset Management earlier this year. ($1=.6116 Pound)