Gaw Capital Partners and InvestUK Launch Innovative “Education Bond” for Chinese Students in the UK

November
03

Shanghai, November

3, 2016– Gaw Capital Partners and InvestUK today signed an MoU to launch the “Education

Bond,” an innovative investment product that allows Chinese and other

international students to invest in the UK and gain Permanent Residence.

The programme is expected to raise up to £1 billion

of foreign direct investment (FDI). At least half the bond will be invested in high-yield

real estate-backed debt, with the balance held in UK Government bonds.

The funds raised with the Education Bond will be

used to finance property-related projects in the UK, including in the affordable

housing sector. The yield from these investments will fund bursaries to fund

the student’s tuition fees.

Bondholders will be eligible to apply for UK ‘ILR’

(Permanent Residence) after a five-year term of the investment. The Education

Bond has a minimum subscription price of £2 million which would be invested

after a Tier 1 (Investor) Visa is granted.

Around 70,000 Chinese students attend UK schools

and universities every year.

“We are delighted to partner with InvestUK to launch

this creative and innovative Education Bond which we believe is a smart and

original way to gain residency while benefiting from an education angle,” said

Christina Gaw, Managing Principal and Head of Capital Markets, Gaw Capital

Partners. “London is a key global gateway city with exceptional opportunities.

The combination of attractive yield, top quality assets, coupled with

attractive long term debt, makes London a particularly compelling market for

real estate investments. We intend to use our in-depth understanding of the UK

real estate market based on our proven track record to safeguard the Bond

investment.” Gaw Capital Partners has been providing separate account services

in the UK market for a high caliber list of institutional investors since 2010.

Rupert Gather, chairman of InvestUK, said, “The

Education Bond is an innovative solution that addresses both the need to fund UK

affordable housing, while continuing to attract world-class talent to the UK’s

world-leading universities. It also provides a meaningful yield for the

bondholder. This is a win-win-win, and exactly the kind of creative product

that Britain’s Migration Advisory Committee has been calling for. The Education

Bond conforms with both the letter and spirit of the UK’s investment visa rules,

while having a meaningful and measurable impact on Britain’s real economy.”

Gaw Capital Partners and its partner in the Education Bond product,

InvestUK, will form an investment committee to oversee the debt investments;

one aspect of this major new initiative – with its investment in property-related

and asset-backed projects in the UK – will contribute to addressing the supply shortage

of affordable housing in the UK, estimated at over 1 million new homes needed

over the next 5 years. This is a national programme, with initial projects in

Derby and Kent already under negotiation with one of the Bond’s UK-based house

building partners, Latis Homes.

According to Lyons Review, to keep up with the number of new households

being formed, at least 243,000 homes a year must be built. In reality, the UK has

only managed to deliver an average of 137,000 homes a year between 2004 and 2014.

The UK government is now tackling the supply shortage with Prime

Minister promising to boost homebuilding. In addition to extra government

spending, more institutional funding will flow into the affordable housing

market.

About Gaw Capital Partners

Gaw Capital Partners is a uniquely positioned private equity fund

management company that focuses in real estate markets in greater China and

other high barrier-to-entry markets globally.

Specializing in adding strategic value to under-utilized real estate

through redesign and repositioning, the firm’s investments span the entire

spectrum of real estate sectors, including residential development, offices,

retail malls, hospitality and logistics warehouses.

Gaw Capital Partners runs an integrated business model with its own

in-house asset management operating platforms in retail, hospitality and

property development.

Gaw Capital Partners has

raised five real estate commingle funds targeting the Greater China and Asia

Pacific region. Additionally, the firm manages opportunistic funds in Vietnam

and the US along with a hospitality fund targeting the Pan Asia region. Gaw

Capital also provides services for separate account direct investments in the

global markets. Notable UK investments include the Lloyd’s building, Tower

Place, Waterside Paddington, Vintners’ Place, Allen House, Exchange Tower,

Milton Gate, Clerkenwell House and 123-151 Buckingham Palace Road in London.

Since its inception in 2005, Gaw Capital Partners has raised equity of

USD$ 6.9 billion and commands assets of USD$ 12.7 billion under management.

For more details, please view: http://www.gawcapital.com

About InvestUK

InvestUK is a Foreign Direct Investment platform to help international

private clients invest directly into UK companies.
InvestUK offers a leading advisory business, having managed over 115

direct private equity investments since it was founded in 2012, helping the UK

to be the number one destination for FDI in Europe. It is a member of the UK

Government’s Inward Investment Support Network and founder of the UK’s Foreign

Direct Investment Awards.
www.investuk.com

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