James Lass joins Advent Capital Investments Ltd as Head of Special Transactions and Fund Manager

Advent Capital Investments Ltd, the specialist UK real estate investment manager wholly owned by Advent Group Asset Managers, has appointed James Lass as head of special transactions, with a focus on central London, and fund manager for its UK Thematic Growth Fund.

Lass joins from Trilogy and was previously at Schroders for 12 years. He managed the Schroder UK Real Estate Fund, which during the time he was fund manager delivered top quartile outperformance over one, three and five years and won the MSCI 2018 Investment Award for the Best Unlisted Fund over £1.5bn over three years. Lass brings a strong track record of generating performance by identifying and investing in growth trends, such as emerging London submarkets and self-storage. He also has experience managing assets on a propco/opco model.

As the London property market displays renewed potential for investors, Lass’ expertise reinforces Advent Capital Investments Ltd’s ability to tap into strong thematic characteristics – including connectivity, networks and demographics – which bode well for long-term occupational demand.

Lass is the latest to join Advent Capital Investments Ltd as the business continues to grow its investment team, product offering and client base. Advent Capital Investments Ltd has recently announced the appointment of Tim Munn, who will join in March 2020 as CIO. This follows senior hires to the fund management and business development teams over the last 18 months.

James Thornton, chief executive of Advent Capital Investments Ltd, said: “We are thrilled to have attracted someone of James’ calibre to join our expanding team. Advent Group ownership has been transformational for our business, with a deep appetite for investing in real estate from the Group. In addition to fund specific roles, we are confident James will deliver on joint ventures and other special opportunity transactions utilising Advent Group capital in conjunction with third party investors.”

James Lass said: “I am delighted to be joining Advent Capital Investments Ltd at such an exciting time in its evolution. With a focus on thematic investing and a first class, experienced team, Advent Capital Investments Ltd is well placed to capitalise on structural changes within the real estate sector, driven by demographic shifts and technological advances. I look forward to working with the team and continuing the excellent performance track record Advent Capital Investments Ltd has consistently delivered for investors.”