Q+A: Ben Coles on becoming Fiera Real Estate’s new chair
Ben Coles joins Head of European Real Estate, Charles Allen, to discuss how they plan to work together.
It is the end of an era at Fiera Real Estate. Ray Palmer, who founded Palmer Capital in 1992 – the investment manager that was sold to Fiera Capital in 2018 – stepped down as executive chair of the European business earlier this month.
He will remain with the business, taking on a non-executive position on the board, but is succeeded as chair by Ben Coles.
Coles is no stranger to Fiera, having been the long-standing chief executive of Wrenbridge – one of the Fiera’s property company partners. Green Street News caught up with Coles and Charles Allen, Head of European Real Estate at Fiera, to find out what his priorities will be and what their plans are for the business.
What does the new role mean for you, Ben?
Ben Coles: For me personally, it’s an incredible opportunity. I’ve been at Wrenbridge for 22 years and running it for 15 years. But to make this change and become chairman of Fiera, with the nine property companies that we back, is an extremely exciting challenge.
How do you plan to work together?
BC: My personal remit here is to look at the overall strategy and to help Charlie run the business. But what will take up a high percentage of my time will be trying to help and support the network of property companies. I’ve got an overarching role with the Fiera business, but with a strong leaning towards property company support.
Charles Allen: We’ve got to know each other exceptionally well over the years and will be working side by side to continue our growth. Over the past three years, we’ve spent a lot of time repositioning the business and setting it up for growth. We’ve now separated the business on the investment management side into three silos – commercial equity, residential equity, and then debt.
We’ve grown assets under management from about £1.8bn to something like £2.7bn in those past three years, and we’ve now got this launchpad to be really active in our chosen sectors, using our unique propco model. We think we’re really well positioned for growth, and having someone of Ben’s experience coming into the Fiera business full-time is going to be a huge positive. He’s got immense energy, a huge amount of transaction experience and strong investor relationships, all of which will be a fundamental part of helping us succeed.
Are you looking to add to the list of propcos backed by Fiera?
BC: The idea is that we would always be opportunistic, and expanding the property company network is something that is always under consideration. Over the years, Charlie has received endless approaches from companies wanting to be backed by Fiera. There’s a lot of work that goes into understanding the people and their business plans – they need to be exceptional. But we’re always open-minded and opportunistic.
Fiera’s property company partners
- Angle Property
- Cubex
- Danescroft
- Harleyford Capital
- Manse
- Opus Land
- Opus North
- Packaged Living
- Wrenbridge
You’ve become more focused on industrial and living in recent years. Do you plan to stick with that sector focus?
CA: We’ve always prided ourselves on being opportunistic and entrepreneurial. We will, to some extent, go where we see the best opportunity – but we continue to see a lot of runway within the residential and industrial sectors. The supply-and-demand fundamentals in both remain attractive.
Opportunistically, we will very much look at other sectors. Over the years, we’ve bought everything from petrol filling stations to vacant science parks. We will continue to be opportunistic in our outlook, and having someone of Ben’s experience there to help understand and unlock interesting deals will be hugely helpful.
You’ve moved into Continental Europe on the debt side. Is there a plan to follow on the equity side?
CA: In short, yes. In the short to medium term, it’s on our agenda to look to grow both in residential equity and commercial equity into continental Europe. When we see the right opportunity, we will launch into it.
How do you think the conflict in the Middle East will impact the market? What can you do to position the business?
BC: We obviously have to be cautious in the short term, but also alive to the possibility that there could interesting opportunities. You have to keep an eye on the macro picture, but at a micro level, there are still opportunities that emerge in markets like this. We have often had success doing things when other people have stepped back.
This article was originally published in Green Street News.