Social housing trust taken over by Home REIT’s sister fund manager
The board of Triple Point Social Housing REIT has replaced its investment manager with a fund house brought in to save the scandal-hit sister fund of Home REIT.
In July, Morning Wire revealed that fund house Atrato had been drafted in to drive a turnaround plan at Home Long Income Fund, which was set up in 2018 and was the precursor to the failed investment trust Home REIT.
The trust collapsed in value and is now under investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Atrato, co-founded by former Goldman Sachs bankers Steve Windsor and Ben Green in 2016, previously launched an unsuccessful bid to take over as investment manager of Home REIT but lost out.
The group hired a team of social housing experts years ago ahead of a possible launch of a new social housing fund, which was later delayed, but it has maintained the capacity to manage social housing funds.
Now, Atrato has been brought in to turn around the struggling Triple Point Social Housing REIT.
This is the third investment trust management mandate Triple Point has lost this year. It also lost the mandate for Digital 9 Infrastructure and Triple Point Energy Transition, both of which are being wound down.
The two trusts cited wide discounts and poor performance in their decision to shutter.
The group’s Social Housing REIT similarly cited finding a new manager to deliver “value to shareholders” in its move over to Atrato.
The Social Housing REIT’s share price is currently trading at a near 50 per cent discount to its underlying assets.
Its share price has fallen more than 15 per cent over the last three years.
The transfer is expected to take place in January 2025.
“While the appointment of a new manager may be well-received by shareholders, we remain wary over whether a sustainable model can be achieved without significant rebasing of rents and valuations,” said Deutsche Numis analyst Andrew Rees.