Brooks property arm set for expansion with trust capital push

Brooks Macdonald's Braemar Estates is to raise extra capital for its property trust.

The Ground Rents Income fund is now 50% invested following its flotation last August and the addition to its portfolio of two new build apartment developments in Liverpool and London.

The fund's board expects the real estate investment trust to be fully invested ahead of its 12-month timescale and additionally, it may benefit from the continued demand for income among investors, and the fact property is being earmarked as a contrarian pick for 2013 following its dismal five-year run and investors eyeing the need for sources of inflation protection.

It is hoped that attracting additional capital will help the Ground Rent Income fund push above the £100 million mark.

'The company has been successful in acquiring assets which fit the profile of providing investors with long-term, secure income with a quasi inflation hedging,' said James Agar, investment director of Brooks' subsidiary Braemar Estates, adviser to the fund.

Agar said the team had already identified a pipeline of investment opportunities for completion in the first quarter of 2013.