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Meet our new Investment Manager: Octopus Investments
We are delighted to share that Octopus Affordable Housing Fund has been selected as the final allocation in our Affordable Housing Portfolio, with a commitment of £30m.
This portfolio addresses the social need for more affordable housing stock in the UK, an area where demand vastly outstrips supply, creating a compelling investment opportunity. Our portfolio targets secure, sterling, inflation-linked returns for the pension fund, whilst also getting more people into more affordable and more energy-efficient homes.
Octopus Investments launched in 2000 as a retail investment firm. Since then, it has become B Corp Certified and has grown into a group of businesses, including the institutional asset management business which is the fund manager of the Octopus Affordable Housing Fund.
Octopus Affordable Housing aim to deliver:
positive social impact for residents, Housing Associations, and their wider communities
high quality, genuinely affordable, energy efficient homes
resilient, index-linked income
responsible stewardship
and quality service when engaging/dealing with all stakeholders
It's great to be working with the Wiltshire Pension Fund team to provide patient capital to the affordable housing sector, funding the delivery and long-term ownership of new homes. We're hyper-focused on building a portfolio of affordable homes that we as fund managers and our institutional investors like Wiltshire, can be truly proud of, that are both energy-efficient and affordable from the outset and throughout their life.
Jack Burnham, Head of Affordable Housing at Octopus Investments
Jack Burnham - Head of Affordable Housing
Jack joined Octopus in 2022, having spent over 15 years in real estate, specialising in affordable housing. Jack was previously Executive Director for Growth and Investment at one of the country's fastest growing affordable housing providers, and previously lead partnerships divisions for several large house builders. He is a member of the CISI and is an RICS Registered Valuer.
Peter Merchant- Investment Director
Peter joined Octopus Real Estate in August 2021 having spent the previous four years with a joint venture partner of Octopus. Peter is responsible for originating and executing affordable housing developments and has over 20 years' affordable housing experience. He is also an independent non-executive director for a small housing association, Buckinghamshire Housing Association.
Catherine Short- Investment Manager
Catherine is an Investment Manager in the Affordable Housing team after previously spending five years in our Development Lending team as a Senior Credit Manager. Prior to joining Octopus in 2018, she worked in Islamic finance at BLME and with real estate clients at PwC. Catherine also has a Master's degree from the University of Leeds and is a qualified Chartered Accountant (ICAEW).
James Whittaker- Investment Associate
James joined the Octopus Affordable Housing Fund team as an Investment Associate in October 2023. Before joining Octopus, James spent four years at Thrive Homes, a Hertfordshire-based housing association, where he served as a Development Business Partner and Financial Analyst. Prior to that, he spent six years with Epping Forest District Council and left as a Senior Capital Accountant, managing their housebuilding programme and other significant capital projects.
Georgia joined Octopus in 2024 to lead on regulatory compliance and portfolio operations for the Octopus Affordable Housing Fund. Georgia is an RICS Chartered Surveyor and has a BSc in Real Estate from the University of Reading. Before joining Octopus, she spent eight years leading the For-Profit Registered Provider subsidiary of Build to Rent investor, Grainger plc. Prior to that, she was a Rural Estate Manager specialising in income diversification.
We are really excited to be adding Octopus to our UK Impact Affordable Housing portfolio. We feel that they offer a differentiated approach and will be an excellent addition alongside our existing managers. Octopus have a focus on genuine affordability and we believe they can use their wider organisation to deliver environmental innovations as well. Our portfolio is already delivering significant social and environmental benefits in the UK, and we look forward to increasing this even further by partnering with Octopus.
