Colonial First State's (CFS) property securities team has launched its first Australian property fund since the group formed in March 2006.
The Wholesale Property Securities Opportunities Fund will invest in small to mid cap companies in Australia.
"Our investment approach to the fund is reminiscent of what we were doing at UBS Asset Management," head of property securities John Snowden said.
Snowden left UBS to join CFS as head of property in January 2006, shortly after the investment manager lost its entire six-strong global property team to Perennial Investment Partners.
Former UBS employees Andrew Nicholas and Miranda Moran followed in March with ex-UBS equities analyst Matthew Gulczynski joining the team in September.
The Wholesale Property Securities Opportunities Fund will be capped at $500 million. Snowden said this will allow CFS to take more meaningful bets on the companies they invest in.
"Our cap on the funds under management will allow us to invest in a small number of companies. This will mean we can take more meaningful bets when investing in the companies," Snowden said.
The fund holds 33 stocks and will invest in up and coming property managers with "a lot of experience and skill."
"By focusing on the small and mid cap stocks the investment universe is opened up to us. It's also a sector which is not analysed as much by stockbrokers,' Snowden said.
CFS has seeded the fund for $5 million which will target institutional investors.
