Paris-based multi-specialist asset manager UFG-LFP has added some flavour to the UCITS space by launching a fund combining wine with real estate reported Citywire Global this week.PARA_BREAK_SENTINEL_9f8e7d6c

Paris-based multi-specialist asset manager UFG-LFP has added some flavour to the UCITS space by launching a fund combining wine with real estate reported Citywire Global this week. The firm, which has almost EUR35billion in AUM, will give investors exposure to some of France’s best vineyards. What makes this fund potentially attractive to the palate is that the LFP Grands Vignobles de France fund will attempt to generate long-term returns by investing, not only in wine production, but the estates themselves in anticipation of rising prices. Certainly an interesting twist and one investors and fund promoters alike could well find appealing with growth opportunities increasingly hard to come by at present. The firm’s real estate team, UFG-REM, will manage the SICAV fund and invest in premier regions including the likes of Bordeaux and Val de Loire. UFG-LFP said some experts are predicting a global wine shortage. Naturally, this would play into the hands of a fund looking for upward price momentum in the sector. The firm’s deputy chairman, Patrick Riviere, was quoted as saying: “The fund is both a real estate fund and, to some extent, a private equity fund as it invests in both the land and the companies running the vineyards, thereby tapping the entire value chain.” Cheers to that.