Launch of two UK innovative funds in Strategic Land

LAUNCH OF TWO UK INNOVATIVE FUNDS IN STRATEGIC LAND

Two new innovative funds, specifically packaged in strategic land products for the sophisticated investor market, are launching today by Capita Financial Managers Limited.

Connaught Asset Management has been appointed by Capita as the specialist asset manager for the funds, which includes a team of specialist investment professionals specifically to construct strategic land funds for the institutional and sophisticated investor markets, using the professional services of their associate companies - Connaught Land and Connaught Consultancy Services to provide the product knowledge and expertise.

The two funds have taken over 8 months to construct and package, following extensive research and feedback from the market:

• The cautious strategic land managed fund –targeted to deliver an 8% annualised return over a 5 year investment period after all fees and expenses.

• The diversified land managed fund –targeted to deliver a 15% annualised return over a 7 year investment period after all fees and expenses.

Both funds are in the form of limited partnerships with Exempt Unit Trusts, will solely acquire a range of land in the UK. Each fund is designed to make strategic land investment accessible to a wider range of investors whilst reducing risk levels through site diversification, no gearing, constant monitoring with independent assessment of each site prior to purchase and throughout the term of the fund.

With a chronic shortage of homes in the UK, leading to significant affordability issues, the Government has set a housing target to develop 4.2 million homes over the next 20 years and has started to overhaul the planning system in the UK to ensure greater accountability at a local level to achieve their housing targets.

Any land that has a change of use for residential development increases in value and the market conditions are ideal for investors, particularly for anyone who is looking to diversify their investment portfolio away from property.

The teams at Capita and CAM have spent 8 months perfecting the fund structure to ensure that they appeal to both the cautious investor market and also those who are looking for significantly higher returns.

The funds will only purchase sites within the UK if there is a strong likelihood of obtaining change in their permitted planning use to generate an increase in the sites’ value – sites carefully identified and purchased by land planning, development and management expertise in Connaught Land. This could be, for example, a change from agricultural or redundant industrial use to residential or commercial use.

The funds will be offered as UK limited partnerships with exempt unit trusts for SIPP and SSAS investors. The minimum investment in each fund is £35,000 or the sterling equivalent of 50,000 Euros, if higher. Profit from successful projects will be paid out during the term of the funds. Both funds can only be invested in via intermediaries in the form of IFAs.

The funds are operated via Capita Financial Group, which is authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) to act in the UK as the operator of an unregulated collective investment scheme and is regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the conduct of its regulated activities.

John Doyle, Asset Director at Connaught Asset Management, said:

"Through discussions with a wide range of businesses, including financial institutions and financial advisers, it became apparent that with the outlook for falling returns in property investments, and recent share price falls in the stock market, many sophisticated investors are looking to find a new asset based investment opportunity to deliver significantly higher returns than they are currently able to achieve.

"We have established Connaught Asset Management with a team of specialist professionals to provide services to fund operators to cater for the sophisticated and institutional markets, using the services of Connaught Land and Connaught Consultancy Services to acquire and manage strategic land sites.

"Given the ideal market conditions in the UK for investing in land we have already had an excellent response from the market and are already planning to develop a number of bespoke and specialist products on behalf of fund operators.

"These low risk funds are designed to deliver capital appreciation with profits paid out to investors throughout the life of each fund and we are delighted that Capita have appointed us as their Asset Advisor to assist with packaging up and launching the Cautious and Diversified land funds."

Brian Primrose, Associate Director from Capita, said:

"We have established these two new innovative funds to exploit the ideal market conditions for strategic land in the UK and to offer the sophisticated investor market a very attractive alternative to commercial and residential property to diversify their investment portfolios and are delighted to be working with CAM as specialist asset advisors to package the funds with us.

"With the current volatility in the equity markets we believe that tangible asset based funds offering potential returns of up to 15% after all fees and expenses will be extremely successful and the feedback from the market we have already received confirms the demand and desire for such new and innovative investment alternatives."

To find out more visit www.connaughtam.com

- ENDS -

*Source: ‘New Projections of households for England and the Regions to 2026’, Government report published on 14th March 2006.

For further media information contact:
Marc Prema-Ratner or Paul Bowhay at Z’est Corporate Public Relations on 020-7734 0404
E-mail: marc@zestcorporate.co.uk or paul@zestcorporate.co.uk
Notes to the Editor:

These funds are unregulated collective investment schemes, the promotion of which by authorised persons in the United Kingdom is restricted by section 238(1) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (the Act). This document should not be issued or passed on in the United Kingdom to any person except as permitted under the Act and the HMT (Promotion of Collective Investment Schemes) (Exemptions) Order 2001.

Circulation is restricted to professional and sophisticated investors and must not be relied upon by private investors. The value of investment can fluctuate and investors may not recoup the value of their investment. All investment is made strictly subject to the Information memorandum. Copies of the Information Memorandum and any special terms and conditions are available from Connaught Asset Management upon request or at www.connaughtam.com.

Connaught Asset Management is not authorised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) 25 The North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HS to provide investment advice.

"Capita Financial Group" is the trading style of Capita Financial Group Limited and its FSA regulated subsidiaries members of which include Capita Financial Managers Limited and Capita Financial Administrators Limited both of which are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority for the conduct of investment business."