Commercial Property Investment Advisory
Investment advisory is the work that happens before an asset is identified. It establishes what the capital is for, what return it must produce, what risk it can carry and over what horizon, and it produces a written mandate that every subsequent acquisition is measured against.
Most private investors skip this step and pay for it later, holding a portfolio assembled from whatever was available rather than one constructed to a purpose. Institutions do not operate this way, and the discipline is not difficult to adopt.
Capital allocation framework
We begin with the balance sheet, not the market. Total investable capital, existing property exposure, gearing capacity, serviceability under stressed interest rates, liquidity requirements and tax position together determine what can responsibly be deployed and how.
Allocation is then set by asset class, geography and risk tier, core income assets, core-plus with a repositioning element, and opportunistic or development exposure, with a defined weighting for each.
- Deployable equity and target gearing
- Debt serviceability stressed at a rate materially above current cost
- Liquidity reserve for capital works, vacancy and re-letting
- Allocation by asset class and risk tier
- Concentration limits by tenant, precinct and asset
Return targets that reflect risk
A return target expressed as a single yield number is inadequate. We define target initial net yield, target yield on cost, target total return including capital growth, and the minimum acceptable return below which capital is not deployed at all.
Holding cash is a legitimate position. A mandate that has no floor will always find a reason to transact.
Risk framework
Risk in commercial property is specific and enumerable. We define the investor's tolerance across each dimension and write it into the mandate: vacancy risk, covenant risk, structural obsolescence, concentration, liquidity, interest rate exposure, planning risk and execution risk.
Once tolerance is written down, asset selection becomes a filtering exercise rather than a judgement call made under time pressure in a competitive campaign.
Portfolio construction over time
A portfolio is built across acquisitions, not within one. Each acquisition is assessed for what it contributes to the whole: does it diversify expiry risk, does it add or reduce covenant concentration, does it improve or worsen the weighted average lease profile, does it fit the debt structure.
We maintain a rolling view of the portfolio's aggregate WALE, income concentration, geographic exposure and gearing so that each subsequent decision is made in context.
Independence and how we are paid
We hold no sales agency, receive no vendor commissions, take no rebates from developers or syndicators, and hold no interest in the assets we recommend. We are paid by the buyer, as a fixed engagement fee and a success fee on completion.
This is the structural condition for independent advice. Any advisor whose income depends on a transaction occurring, or on a particular vendor's stock being sold, is conflicted regardless of intent.
Questions investors ask us.
- Do you provide financial advice?
- No. We provide property acquisition and investment strategy advice on real assets. Financial product advice, tax advice and superannuation compliance advice should come from your licensed adviser and accountant, and we work alongside them.
- Can you review a portfolio I already hold?
- Yes. A portfolio review assesses aggregate WALE, income and covenant concentration, gearing, reversion potential and underperforming assets, and produces a written position on hold, reposition or divest.
- What size portfolio do you work with?
- From a first commercial acquisition through to multi-asset portfolios. The framework is the same; the scale differs.
Request an investment strategy session.
A written brief, an independent view on the asset or the mandate, and a clear position on whether the capital should be deployed at all.