Investment manager PIMCO has launched a global fund to invest in mortgage-backed securities in order to generate a source of returns “across full market cycles”.

UK commercial real estate will remain an attractive prospect for investors despite the ongoing uncertainty in the wider economy, the audience at a panel discussion between property lenders heard last week.

Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking has hired Andrew Wheldon, the former head of residential debt and structured finance at CBRE, as a director in its listed CRE clients team.

ICG-Longbow has closed its first financing of a London residential project for its UK development lending mandate, with a £135 million loan for an apartment tower in Canary Wharf.

Real estate asset manager AEW Europe and the asset management arm of French bank Natixis have raised more than €400 million for their second European senior property debt fund.

Despite the political and economic backdrop, investors still see UK commercial property as a safe haven – for the time being.

Starwood Capital’s listed European real estate debt fund wrote £170.8 million of new lending during 2016, its highest annual volume since it was launched in 2012.

UK commercial real estate loan margins increased by around 40 basis points across the whole of 2016, with the bulk of the movement in the final week of June after the country’s EU referendum, according to new research released by CBRE.

ING Real Estate Finance has provided a €20 million loan to Italian REIT Coima RES to finance the purchase of prime offices in Milan.

Loan servicing firm Mount Street has acquired the portfolio manager of defunct German bank WestLB’s legacy loanbook and with it a €29 billion mandate.