UK firm's new arm to offer high net worth Indians value-add investments

London, September 22 

UK-based real estate developer Osborne Co on Tuesday announced the launch of its investment management business to target emerging value-add and development opportunities in the UK and Europe.

Osborne Co Investment Management (OCIM) said its aim is to become a natural investment partner for globally-focused high net worth individuals (HNWIs), family offices and pension funds in India, north and south-east Asia, Europe and the UK, who are looking for risk-adjusted European real estate exposure. 

Despite the economic headwinds stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the OCIM team believes a strong in-house delivery capability offered by sister company Osborne Co can be uniquely leveraged to generate superior value and returns for its investors.

Rajesh Budhrani, Co-founder and Head of Asia for OCIM, believes that despite the uncertainty surrounding the current market conditions, Asian investors remain keen on foreign direct investment (FDI) into the UK. 

Therefore, India is among the key target markets for the new venture, including plans for an India office in the pipeline for 2021.

“Investors from the Indian sub-continent are very familiar with investing in UK real estate, in particular the residential buy-to-let asset class and second homes. Here, the yields are generally low. We, meanwhile, offer opportunities that can give a higher risk-adjusted return through value-added projects on both residential and commercial sectors,” said Budhrani, a Director with Osborne Co.

He is joined by Osborne Co Co-Founder Conor Osborne, and Rishi Khurana, formerly at Sidra Capital, to set up OCIM.

“We have the agility of a dynamic start-up alongside the backing of an established sister company, Osborne Co. Our investment focus will initially be to target core development and value-add opportunities across the UK and Europe, where we believe we are seeing an emerging disconnect in fundamentals and we anticipate value buying opportunities,” explains Osborne, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of OCIM.

Under the investment strategy, OCIM says it will co-invest with its investor partners to deliver a hands-on and aligned approach focused on driving performance-defined returns, as opposed to a traditional fee-based model.

Rishi Khurana, Co-founder and Managing Partner of OCIM, adds that the focus is on a performance-based model and an entrepreneurial mindset.

“For us, alignment and transparency are key, as we co-invest alongside our partners,” he said. PTI