Legal & General Property (LGP) has strengthened its research team with a number of management and personnel changes, including the promotion of Head of Research, Rob Martin (pictured), to the Board of Legal & General Property and the appointment of Barbora Melezinkova as Performance Analyst.

 
Rob Martin has played a pivotal role in the development and growth of LGP’s in-house research capabilities over the last six years, with responsibility for overseeing in-house forecasting and house views, the investment process, performance analysis and thematic research projects.  Joining LGP in October 2006 from the position of Head of Research of Hammerson, he has expanded the team and deepened the role of research in the investment management process. The LGP research agenda blends theoretical rigour with a practical understanding of markets to identify strategies and themes which contribute to outperformance. A critical part of that capability is the wider network economists and strategists in Legal & General Investment Management that operate across the equity, sovereign and corporate credit markets in the UK and globally.
 
LGP’s latest recruit to the team, Barbora Melezinkova, has been appointed as Performance Analyst, responsible for ensuring that performance data is of the highest quality and analysing results to add value to the investment management process. Barbora brings substantial experience as an analyst at IPD, as well as a number of commercial roles outside of the property industry. Whilst at IPD, she was an Update Leader in the Portfolio Analysis team, working for a range of property investment managers.
 
Mike Tate, Fund Analysis Manager, has taken on additional responsibilities in serving the requirements of Legal & General’s rapidly growing Annuity property portfolio. The highly specific nature of the clients’ commercial and regulatory requirement requires specialist analysis which Mike will be leading on for LGP. 
 
LGP is currently working to add further to the research team, as an additional step in growing the value added to the fund management platform. The appointments follow the restructure of LGP’s senior management team, announced at the end of last year, to support the ongoing growth of its business and further align the strength of its in-house platform with its investment objectives.
 
Bill Hughes , Managing Director of Legal & General Property, says: “Following a strategic restructure of the management team, these appointments are in line with our goal to further strengthen the in-house capabilities within LGP and raise the bar. Rob’s appointment to the LGP Board is testament both to the significant contribution he has made to LGP and the central position that our research platform plays in directing our investment process and enabling us to monitor fund performance. Additionally, Barbora brings a wealth of experience and a range of skills which we believe will be invaluable in supporting the team and further strengthening the research capabilities at LGP.”
 
Rob Martin, Director of Research at Legal & General Property, says: “More than ever, the performance of the property market is intimately tied to outcomes in the economy and wider asset markets. Blending the expertise in the wider investment management business with our own grasp of property fundamentals enables us to identify practical strategies in support of robust and consistent outperformance for clients.”