A proven and respected leader in the property industry, Mr Georos brings over 25 years’ experience to the team, with significant capabilities gained from his 16-year tenure at The GPT Group, where he held various senior positions including Deputy Head of Development, Head of Industrial & Business Parks and Portfolio Manager. Prior to this, Victor was the General Manager Portfolio Property Management for Lend Lease Corporation.

In his role at Centuria, Victor will oversee the management of Centuria’s assets, including the development and implementation of strategies to maximise returns. He will be reporting to David Govey, Head of Assets.

Jason Huljich, CEO of Centuria Property Funds said: “Centuria has cemented its position as an active property funds manager with a strong track record of acquiring quality assets in Australia. Victor’s appointment will be pivotal in supporting our strategic goals of growth and building a more competitive business.”

“Victor has a proven record of adding value to investment portfolios and has delivered numerous major development projects. We are confident that his expertise and experience will be an asset to the team.”

Mr Georos said of his appointment: “Centuria’s solid history of high performance and active asset and portfolio management attracted me to this role. I am excited to be joining the Centuria team and working toward achieving our business objectives.”

Centuria Capital recently announced another high profile appointment, that of Nicholas Collishaw, as CEO of Listed Property Funds. This forms part of a renewed strategy encompassing retail, wholesale and listed funds to provide investors with access to a range of investment options matched to their specific mandates and risk profiles.

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Mr Essey will be responsible for managing and coordinating the leasing of the Group’s office, industrial and retail assets in addition to providing strategic input into asset acquisition and disposal processes.

Jason Huljich, CEO of Centuria Property Funds said: “Andrew’s appointment is aligned with our strategic aim of building a more competitive business via the acquisition of larger, higher quality assets in major metro cities in Australia.”

“He has strong relationships with many of our external service providers which is a key component to the successful ongoing performance of the property portfolio. We are all confident that his knowledge and expertise will strengthen our relationships with existing clients and pave the way for new opportunities.”

Mr Essey joins Centuria from DTZ where he was a Director and was responsible for leasing and sales within Sydney’s North Shore industrial and office park markets for the past six years. During his tenure, he was directly involved in over 180 transactions while representing institutional and private investors. Prior to his tenure at DTZ, Mr Essey was a Senior Project Coordinator with The Atlantic Remodelling Corporation in the US.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Essey said: “I am looking forward to working with the Centuria team and building on its portfolios. I was attracted to joining an organisation that has a strong history of performance and a clear strategic direction for the future.”

Centuria Capital recently announced the appointment of Nicholas Collishaw as CEO – Listed Property Funds as part of its implementation of a three level property strategy that includes retail funds, wholesale funds and listed funds to provide investors with access to a range of investment options matched to their mandate and risk profile.

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The Centuria 19 Corporate Drive Fund was commended for its high level of income return and forecast capital gain, and the industry-leading governance structure, which reflects a focus on investor rights.

Speaking about the win, Chief Executive Officer of Centuria Property Funds, Jason Huljich said:

“Centuria is pleased to receive this award as recognition of the strong performance structure of the Centuria 19 Corporate Drive Fund. It also reflects the caliber of our team and the high quality investments we aim to offer investors. We continue to explore opportunities that respond to trends we see in property markets that have the potential to deliver excellent returns to investors. We have great expectations for Centuria 19 Corporate Drive Fund and this latest award supports these.”

Centuria 19 Corporate Drive Fund is the latest product offering from Centuria Property Funds and will distribute 9.75% p.a. in its first year growing to a forecast 10.00% p.a. in year two. Equity raising for the Fund is currently underway, with the opportunity to invest closing in mid November 2012.

Centuria 19 Corporate Drive Fund is a single asset, closed-end unlisted property fund investing in a high quality commercial office building in the heart of the Southgate Corporate Park. The investment will provide strong income underpinned by an excellent tenancy profile and potential capital growth through a combination of active asset management and a recovery in the wider property market over the longer term.

“We are currently experiencing strong demand for our unlisted funds from individual investors and wealth management groups. Investors are seeking opportunities that can provide strong income returns backed by ‘hard assets’. Property as an asset class, with its high proportion of total return generated by income yields, is well positioned to meet this demand.” Huljich said.

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Mr Chong will be responsible for leading and growing Centuria’s Asia-Pacific platform – raising equity from Asian institutional investors to invest in Australian property and concurrently, tap onshore Australian capital to invest offshore alongside Centuria’s balance sheet.

Mr Huljich said: “Centuria’s decision to open a representative office in Singapore will provide it with greater access to Asian investors which are in line with its business growth strategy. The decision follows the growing success of Centuria and the appetite from Asian investors looking to penetrate the Australian property market”

With over seventeen years of experience in the real estate industry within the Asia Pacific region, Mr Chong will report directly to Mr Huljich, who described the appointment as a highly considered move that was aligned to Centuria’s growth strategy.

“Woon Pin is highly regarded for facilitating equity raising, structuring joint ventures for investor groups and executing investment into regional markets.

“His deep experience in the industry combined with his cross-border expertise will be a significant advantage to assisting Centuria with building relationships with offshore investors. We have no doubt that he will support Centuria in the next step of its growth strategy in Australia and I look forward to working closely with Woon Pin to achieve this vision.”

Prior to joining Centuria, Mr Chong was Head of Equity and Capital Transactions, Asia at Lend Lease. Prior to Lend Lease, he was the Director of the Regional Investment Group and Director of Business Development and Advisory at Colliers International.

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Some key areas for attention include the cost of security, accommodation, traffic management and, of course, of the Olympic Park itself.

According to Centuria Property Funds, if the Sydney experience is anything to go by, Londoners can breathe easy.

Twelve years on, the Sydney Olympic Park picture is more than rosy, with a flurry of recent sales and leasing activity adding to an already appealing investment story.

“Sydney Olympic Park has well and truly thrown off the ‘white elephant’ tag that some of the cynics gave it early in the piece,” said Centuria Property Funds CEO, Jason Huljich. “As well as a track record of strong continuous demand from high quality tenants, the ongoing investment merit of the precinct is borne out by a renewed surge of sales interest in the precinct.”

As Mr Huljich pointed out, the area has delivered proven excellent long term performance for investors, with sustained solid returns supported by vacancy rates that are among the lowest in the country at 1.04% as at July 2012 compared with a national average of 9.1%.

Latest sales news includes the impending sale of, 5 Murray Rose Avenue, along with the offering of a 50% interest in one of the jewels in the Olympic Park crown, 2+4 Dawn Fraser Avenue. The former will be sold fully tenanted by Thales Australia on a 10 year term. The latter is fully leased to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, a mainstay tenant of the precinct since 2006.

Centuria has been closely involved with commercial and, more recently, mixed use property in the Olympic Park precinct for close to ten years. Two Centuria properties in the precinct have been sold and are  among some of the best performing in the Centuria portfolio, with average total returns of circa 20% per annum.

Given the current economic turmoil facing our London counterparts, what advice would Mr Huljich offer those seeking to replicate the Centuria success in post-Olympic London?

“Sydney Olympic Park has been such a success post the Olympics due to the following factors – fantastic transport infrastructure, convenience, affordability and exceptional planning whereby the Sydney Olympic Park Authority has continually looked to evolve the precinct,” said Mr Huljich.

Sydney Olympic Park: fast property facts

Twelve years since Sydney 2000, Centuria has purchased four properties in the Olympic Park precinct and, along with GPT, remains one of its most active owners. Property highlights include:

• Ongoing strong demand for office space resulting in one of the lowest vacancy rates in the country at just 1.04% as at July 2012 compared to a national average of 9.1%.
• High quality, long term tenants, including brands such as CBA, Samsung, QBE, Fujitsu, Eveready, NSW Lotteries and National Foods.
• High profile tenant CBA committed to approximately 57,000 square metres in 2006. One of its three buildings, owned by Colonial, sold in July 2008 for $104.5m to German fund manager Real I.S. at a yield of 7%.
• Recently, a 50% interest in another of the CBA-leased buildings has been offered for sale, with a successful sale likely to set a new high water mark for the area.
• Imminent sale of a new building at 5 Murray Rose Avenue understood to be at a 7.75% yield, leased to Thales for a 10 year term.

Centuria sales include: 2 Australia Avenue in 2009, with an average income return of 8.00% p.a. for nine years, plus a capital gain of 100%, equating to 19% average annual total returns; and 6 Herb Elliott Avenue in 2010, with an average income return of 8.4% p.a. for 7.5 years, plus a capital gain of 75%, equating to 21% average annual total returns.

Centuria purchased 100 Bennelong Parkway for $10.5 million in 2002. Based on a recent valuation it has almost doubled in value and it is delivering strong income returns to investors of 9.00% p.a. Centuria is currently working on a major residential scheme for 300 apartments, upon expiry of the long term lease, and expects this to generate significant capital profit.

More recently, in June 2011, Centuria bought 8 Australia Avenue for $30.15 million in a single asset fund at a yield of circa 8.85%.

1 August 2012

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The ASIC Consultation Paper 163: Unlisted Property Schemes sets out eight benchmarks to improve the level, comparability and consistency of disclosure for retail investors in unlisted property.

In providing feedback on each of these benchmarks in its submission to ASIC, Centuria noted that it had already identified and instituted a series of initiatives to improve investor understanding and rights. 

“We welcome ASIC’s initiative to develop benchmarks that will hopefully become an industry wide norm,” Centuria Property Funds CEO Jason Huljich said. “We have led the way having already implemented what we regard as best practice benchmarks by which our retail investors can measure our performance.” 

Centuria has now implemented these internal benchmarks across all of its new funds along with those benchmarks that improve the way in which we disclose and communicate with existing investors. These benchmarks are: 

• Gearing: Financial gearing levels, and specific risks associated with the level of gearing, are set for each fund and disclosed in each PDS. Gearing is actively monitored and managed and, most importantly, investors are updated on gearing levels and debt covenant compliance quarterly.
• Income: Specific risks to regular income distributions are disclosed in each PDS and cash flows are actively managed and monitored to identify any changes to distribution expectations as early as possible. Investors are updated on distribution expectations quarterly.
• Liquidity: For fixed term trusts, the initial term must be defined and disclosed; the trust should provide for majority unit holder vote in favour of continuing a first term beyond the initial term and a unanimous vote required in favour of continuing for a second term.
• For open ended property trusts, while it is important that investors view such trusts as illiquid investments, they also shouldn’t be locked into such investments for unreasonable periods of time. Accordingly, a strategy to provide liquidity at specified times must be defined along with the risks to this strategy. Investors must be updated on this facility quarterly.
• Related party transactions: Responsible entities should maintain and apply written policies on related party transactions and conflict management. The existence of material related party transactions or engagements must be disclosed along with commentary on why they are in the interests of investors.

 Centuria has also implemented a fifth benchmark on Investor Rights. The industry-leading campaign, supported by the peak industry body, the Property Funds Association of Australia, introduced a series of initiatives including: improving voting rights of investors; setting hurdle rates before performance fees are payable; eliminating ‘poison pill’ provisions; improved communication and transparency; and clarifying liquidity provisions for investors.

“Investors are at the centre of everything we do as a property funds manager,” Mr Huljich said. “Our investor rights initiative is aimed improving outcomes for our investor base through greater transparency and increasing the control an investor has over these outcomes.”

“The current market environment offers great opportunities for retail investors in unlisted property and we hope consistent and enforceable benchmarks will help retail investors confidently take advantage of these opportunities.” 

Following the consultation period, ASIC are expected to release proposed disclosure benchmarks before the end of the year.

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