Montello launches £250m Real Estate Opportunity Fund

The Fund has been launched in Luxembourg as a SICAV SIF and formally received sign-off from the Luxembourg regulator late last month.

Montello has joined up with global real estate and fund professionals CBRE which will act as transaction manager, while Luxembourg Fund Partners and Apex Fund Services are assisting with the operation and administration of the Fund. The Fund is audited by PwC; and ABN Amro Bank is the custodian bank.

Christian Faes, managing partner at Montello, said: "The team that we have brought together for this Fund is unquestionably the best team of global fund and real estate professionals in the market.

“Being able to have CBRE involved is a real coup, and we look forward to working with them to build a very strong presence in this market.

“The Montello Real Estate Opportunity Fund will consolidate Montello's position in the market as a 'one-stop shop' for real estate entrepreneurs.

“We will now be able to fund developers from the acquisition of a property through bridging finance, through to the development and completion of a project.

“We have a number of joint venture projects lined up for the Fund, and we expect investors to continue to achieve superior risk adjusted returns as with our other two funds."

Montello received seed funding from three offshore institutional investors, and now that the Fund has formally launched, is taking investments on an on-going basis.

The Fund is open-ended and trades monthly, and will provide investors with a net return between 6-10% per annum, payable quarterly.

The Montello Real Estate Opportunity Fund will have a relatively broad investment mandate, which will build upon Montello's significant track record as a leading short-term real estate lender in the UK market.

In addition to bridging finance, the Fund will be able to provide development finance and enter into joint ventures.