Tel: 0207 237 0374
It is difficult to believe that the first of July marked the first anniversary of John leaving PwC after nearly 26 years and setting up on his own. Thank you to everyone for supporting our business from the outset. It has been very busy year in terms of projects undertaken, John's continued involvement in real estate industry bodies and thought leadership, and also our ability as a new business to keep supporting real estate and cycling related charities. We thought that you might be interested in what we have been up to over the last twelve months, so more on each of these below.
Thank you also for your positive feedback regarding our website and our regular mailings.
Projects
We have been fully engaged on client work since the day John left PwC. Major projects have focussed on the modernisation of existing funds and the launch of new funds, drawing on John's knowledge of changing investor attitudes, regulation and tax.
Since writing the report for the Association of Real Estate Funds, "Unlisted funds, lessons from the crisis" in 2012, John has established a reputation for expertise in real estate fund modernisation. Major fund modernisation projects over the last year have included:
• conducting an independent review of a UK open-ended fund considering improvements that could be made to:
- structure;
- subscription and redemption process;
- fees, reward, alignment of interest and staff retention;
- governance;
- communication with investors
- and complying with changes in regulation;
• representing the investors in the conversion of a major UK closed-ended fund to a semi-open-ended fund.
John has also worked on two new fund launches during the year, assisting clients on structure, governance, regulation and strategy.
Smaller projects have also been undertaken, as well as work on a regular retainer basis.
John has recently been appointed to the newly-established independent supervisory board of a UK open-ended fund.
A couple of people have helpfully warned us that the second year is harder as the initial euphoria wears off and new clients prove hard to find. John has several new projects for next year already, so hopefully we do not need to worry excessively about that!
Review of our first year
