Alistair Smith, Head of Real Estate at Border to Coast – Building a £2bn Pension Property Platform

What does it take to design and deliver a £2 billion real-estate platform serving over a million UK pensioners - while keeping a long-term focus in a short-term world?

This week, I sat down with Alistair Smith, Head of Real Estate at Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, to unpack his 30-year career spanning advisory, private-equity, and institutional real estate - and the leadership lessons learned through every market cycle.

Alistair's journey includes senior roles at abrdn, where he led European real-estate investment management, before joining Border to Coast in 2022 to launch its UK Direct and Global Indirect Pooled Funds - now managing roughly £2 billion across 11 partner funds.

We discuss navigating mergers, restructuring portfolios, and how to build enduring value in an industry defined by change.

Key Topics Covered In This Episode

✅ From Advisory to Institutional - The path from chartered surveyor to head of real estate

✅ Mergers & Change - Lessons from the abrdn / Standard Life integration

✅ Redundancy & Resilience - How to rebuild and refocus after a career shock

✅ Building Border to Coast - How to pool 11 pension funds and create a £2 billion platform

✅ Long-Term Value - Why durable income beats short-term churn in real-estate investing

✅ Market Outlook - Where he sees opportunity as core real estate rebalances

Oh, and one last thing…

In every episode, I ask each guest: Who are the People, what Property, and which Place they'd invest in if they had £500 million at their disposal?

Alistair's answer reflected discipline, clarity, and a decades-long belief in the power of durable income and quality assets 💷

Got thoughts or questions about this episode? Drop them in the comments - I'd love to hear from you.

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