The acquisition was the company’s first in Singapore for its global real estate portfolio. Located in the prime Central Business District near the Tanjong Pagar MRT Station, the Peck Seah Street shophouses span two storeys and an attic level, with an excellent street frontage of 33 metres.

The property has a total existing gross floor area of 19,938 sq ft. and is fully-leased to institutional tenants, offering strong and stable income streams.

Ted Roy, deputy fund manager of ASI’s Global Real Estate Fund, said: “This is an excellent opportunity for us to further diversify our global fund’s Asia Pacific investment footprint. We particularly like the finite supply of shophouses and the potential for the asset to benefit from Singapore’s 2019 Master Plan designed to rejuvenate the immediate vicinity.

“Aberdeen Standard Investments has been investing in Asia Pacific direct real estate since 2006 through our global fund. We expanded our direct real estate capability with the acquisition of Orion Partners in February 2019 which brought in expertise in Singapore, Korea, Japan and China.

“For global investors seeking diversification, we believe that cities in the Asia Pacific region are set to experience robust growth over the next decade, fuelled by both domestic and foreign immigration to major metropolises along with continued infrastructure spend across the region.

“Over the medium-term, we have a particular focus on residential; urban infill and logistics which has benefited from structural changes to the retail sector; offices in key gateway cities as well as age-care in Japan.”