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| "There is a systemic benefit if borrowers can now hedge the capital value risk on the collateral for bank loans" Nick Ritblat, BPF |
Nick Ritblat, former finance director of British Land, former investment banker at SG Warburg and hedge fund manager, stepped down as president of the British Property Federation, the UK trade association and lobbying group, in May. Ritblat played a prominent part in easing the introduction of Reit regulation in the UK, having also played a key role in the development of a property derivatives market. As president of the BPF he has, behind the scenes, sought to dissuade the government from certain plans to tax the industry, to smooth relations between commercial property owners and occupiers and promote the UK property industry’s green credentials.
On the eve of the BPF’s annual meeting, in May, he sat down with Liquid Real Estate to review these broad efforts to open up the once closed world of property investment to a wider audience of institutional and retail investors and enhance it as a valid asset class.
He starts with a grimace at commentators who are now casting the introduction of Reits as a damp squib, just five months on from the day when nine UK property companies, including sector leaders such as British Land, Land Securities, Hammerson and Slough Estates, began the new year in this new form.