Kames appoints Peacock to property investment team

Kames Capital has appointed Richard Peacock as an investment manager to its London based property investment team.
In his new role, Peacock will become co-manager of the Kames Property Income Fund, with existing co-manager and Kames’ property investment director David Wise. Peacock will replace Alex Walker, who is leaving to take a career break at the end of December, after eight years with the business.
Peacock who has worked with both Wise and Walker previously, joins Kames from Aviva Investors where he has worked since 2005, most latterly as a fund manager responsible for the Aviva Investors Pensions Ltd a £1.2 billion open ended property fund for UK pension schemes. This fund has 59 assets across the UK, in all sectors and geographies. Peacock was also responsible for leading a team of five sector specialist asset managers. He will join Kames in December 2016 which will facilitate a smooth handover of the fund from Walker.
At Kames, Peacock will report to Wise and will be responsible for the team behind the Property Income Fund which includes three assistant fund managers, including Gregory Beeson, Karen Fox and Ric Tsang.
His appointment will ensure the continuation of the strength and depth of the Kames Active Value property investment strategies following Walker’s departure. Kames’ AV strategies aim to deliver superior returns for investors through buying quality properties, with the goal of enhancing their yields through active management initiatives, such as refurbishments, lease extensions and new lettings.
These strategies target properties in the £3 million to £20m price range, where pricing is attractive. These assets are often too big for most private buyers, but too small for many bigger fund managers.
Kames Capital’s head of property investment Phil Clark says: “We are witnessing very interesting times in the property UK sector following the vote to quit the European Union in June. The decision has created both challenges and opportunities for the property market. Richard has worked in the property industry for almost 20 years and the wealth of experience he brings, combined with that of the highly experienced existing team, will ensure that we are well positioned to continue maximising these opportunities.’
‘I would also like to thank Alex for his excellent contribution to the business over the last eight years and for helping to establish the Kames Property Income Fund, which under his and David’s stewardship was able to navigate the post-Brexit property shock which saw many of our competitor funds closing their doors to redemptions, whilst our fund remained open. I would like to wish Alex every success in whatever direction his future career takes.’
Note to editor – At 30 September 2016 Kames Property Income Fund held over 25% in liquid assets (cash and REIT’s).