Standard Life Investments today unveiled two global REIT funds aimed at institutional and retail investors in the UK and Europe.

The Global REIT Fund and the Global REIT Focus Fund will invest largely in REITs and property securities of companies with global investment portfolios. Both funds will be managed by Andrew Jackson and Svitlana Gubriy and will aim to outperform the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Index by 2% a year.

The funds benefit from an unconstrained approach to asset allocation, which Standard Life hopes will ensure the fund buys into in the best investment opportunities, rather than being tied to one region or market.

Alex Watt, managing director of property investments at Standard Life Investments, said: ‘The superior investment freedom afforded by such an approach means both funds offer the best balance of risk and reward. It also helps tackle a key issue for property investors – how to efficiently convert large cash holdings earmarked for property investment and avoid low relative returns which can dilute overall investment performance.’