Barings has appointed Paul Smith from Aviva Investors as a director in its UK asset management team.
At Aviva, Smith (pictured) was responsible for the asset management of 15 assets valued in excess of £600m within UK cities and worked on the creation of the Hoxton Campus brand to promote a vacant office cluster around Hoxton Square, in addition to the £40m acquisition of Curtain House in London.
Barings has also appointed Philip Smith as senior associate from JLL where he worked for the last six and a half years in the agency group’s asset management team.
Both of the new team members will be based in London and will primirly work on development and refurbishment projects across the UK, including Barings’ mixed-use residential BTR and office regeneration project Soapworks in Bristol and 25 Moorgate, in the City of London.
Ian Mayhew, managing director, UK asset management, at Barings, said: “Paul and Philip join the team with experience from global real estate names, making them a highly complementary fit to Barings as we continue to place growing importance on strategic asset management, refurbishment and development. With a number of premium buildings across our preferred investment classes – namely logistics, residential and core offices in prime locations particularly central London – the strengthening of our asset management team is integral to our investment strategies as we seek to deliver attractive returns to our clients.”
Paul Smith added: “Barings is a highly reputable firm, known for an approach that is drawn from global insights and local expertise. I look forward to contributing to the growth of the business, creating spaces with personality and with embedded sustainability that stand out in the market, and enhancing the first-class assets acquired in recent times such as Soapworks, 25 Moorgate and our logistics development on Omega West, Warrington.”
