Fiera Real Estate UK and Packaged Living have appointed Mike Weston as strategic adviser to their recently announced UK single-family housing strategy (FRESH).
Weston has more than three decades of experience and previously worked for local government pension schemes (LGPS), private and charity sector pension schemes and commercial investment managers.
He was chief executive of LGPS Central from 2019 to 2023, chief executive of the Pensions Infrastructure Platform between 2014 and 2019 and prior to that he was CIO of Daily Mail & General Trust Pensions.
As a professional trustee at Pi Partnership, Weston chairs the Nuffield Health Pension and Life Assurance Scheme – a hybrid defined benefit/defined contribution pension scheme – and holds advisory and trustee positions at master trust and UK industry sector pension schemes.
As strategic adviser to FRESH, which is targeting £1bn in assets under management having recently completed its first close, Weston will advise on the impact strategy and capital formation.
Weston said: “Fiera and Packaged Living have a long-established track record in the living sectors, delivering high quality, sustainable homes. In FRESH, both teams have a clear focus on addressing a critical shortfall in the UK housing market while offering institutional investors long-term yield.”
Charles Allen, head of European real estate, Fiera Real Estate, added: “Mike’s excellent knowledge of the UK institutional landscape and governance across major pension schemes will prove invaluable as FRESH moves quickly following its first close, delivering sustainable returns for our investors that set standards in institutional-grade single-family housing.”
Ed Ellerington, CEO of Packaged Living, said: “For over 30 years Mike has dedicated his career to delivering positive outcomes for public, private and charity sector pension beneficiaries. As momentum builds behind FRESH, his counsel will ensure we maximise the socio-economic impact of our portfolio, reflecting the shifting preferences we see among institutional investors.”
