Tel: 0207 237 0374
Our client work continues to be an interesting mix of specific assignments, ongoing clients and non-executive positions.
John continues to play an active role in his three non-executive roles at UBS Triton, Urban Splash Residential Fund and Ginkgo Advisor Limited.
John is chair of the independent Supervisory Board of the UK Triton balanced fund.
In 2019, Triton won the inaugural AREF “Investors’Award for Outstanding Achievement”. The winner was selected by a panel of investors judging fund
Urban Splash launched its residential fund in March 2019 with an initial seed capital of £20 million. John is the independent chair of its Advisory Committee.
in governance, environmental and social impact, and investor communication. The panel pinpointed both Triton’s governance and ESG achievements as standing out and also highlighted Triton securing the highest possible ratings in AREF’s Code of Practice, as well as the award of AREF’s Quality Mark in 2018, which recognises high standards of transparency and corporate governance. The panel also recognised the corporate risk management principles in place for the Fund, and which are independently audited.
In 2020, Triton also collected the REFI Core Fund of the Year award. The judges highlighted the returns Triton produced from the strategic acquisition, asset management and sale of a London asset, and the fund's Responsible Investment and ESG focus, as well as the Fund’s outperformance of its benchmark.
During the year the fund invested its initial seed capital in houses and apartments and is now looking to further fundraising. This will be to invest in standing assets, primarily from the £1 billion Urban Splash development pipeline, described by the Financial Times as "the housing market equivalent of a designer fashion label”.
Urban Splash has produced an impressive video about the fund, which you can have a look at here.
John is non-executive chairman of Ginkgo Advisor Limited, as Edmond de Rothschild’s specialist brownfield investment firm Ginkgo opens for business in the UK. Ginkgo is launching fundraising for a £100 million private equity fund that will invest in regenerating contaminated urban land in the UK. The fund is a partnership between Ginkgo, and igloo – a sustainable property regeneration specialist in the UK.
The fund aims to regenerate derelict industrial land to allow the building of attractive and vibrant urban neighbourhoods.
A key element of the Urban Splash capacity to deliver at scale is its offsite manufacturing capability. A year ago, Japanese housebuilder Sekisui House and Homes England invested alongside Urban Splash in the modular construction business "House by Urban Splash".
In May, just after the modular factory reopened post lockdown, Simon Gawthorpe, managing director of "House by Urban Splash" recorded a Property Week podacst which you can listen to here.
