PETER PEREIRA-GRAY

Recently elevated to the position of deputy chief investment officer at charity The Wellcome Trust, Peter Pereira-Gary still remains at the heart of property investment. The charity is viewed by industry participants as being an “important player” in European real estate, and one of the keenest on opportunistic strategies. Pereira- Gray, a former director of property fund management at UK insurer Prudential, is a leading light among LPs and a regular panelist at real estate seminars. He has been influential at the UK's property performance benchmarking service, the Investment Property Databank, where he was one of a number of industry figures taking part in consultation on government changes to the way leases are structured. The Wellcome Trust, which spends around £650 million ($1.29 billion; €809 million) a year supporting and promoting research into human and animal health, has one of the largest portfolios in UK private equity. The charity is seeing more opportunities in real estate than last year, especially because prices have adjusted for Western European property. It has around £15 billion of assets under management, with around eight percent allocated to real estate, 40 percent of which is in private real estate. Pereira-Gray oversees three people in real estate investing, including head of property, Allan Wyatt. Last year the charity formed a 50/50 joint venture with UK property firm, Quintain, to finance and develop £600 million of student accommodation.