The Urban Land Institute (ULI) and the Association of British Insurers (ABI) have become members of the Property Industry Alliance (PIA).

The PIA brings together leading bodies involved in commercial property to give the sector a strong voice on a wide range of issues, including ensuring the contribution of property both to the economy and to the personal wealth of British citizens is fully understood. It is also influential in areas such as property debt, REITs, sustainability and occupier satisfaction.

Membership of the PIA includes the Association of British Insurers,  Association of Real Estate Funds (AREF), British Council for Offices (BCO), British Council of Shopping Centres (BCSC), British Property Federation (BPF), Investment Property Forum (IPF), Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Urban Land Institute.

Sir Robert Finch, Chairman of the PIA, said: “I am delighted that the ULI and ABI  are joining the PIA. Their membership will broaden and  strengthen the PIA, enabling it  to play an even more effective role in co-ordinating the work of the leading property industry bodies.    The ULI will bring an international, multi-disciplinary perspective to the PIA and a keen understanding of urban development issues based on producing over 600 advisory service panel reports for cities over the last thirty years. The ABI will  provide an invaluable link for the PIA with  the insurance sector, one of the biggest sources of investment in the property industry. Membership of the PIA will enable the ABI to feed more effectively into cross-industry initiatives.”

Joe Montgomery, CEO of ULI Europe, said: “ULI is delighted to join the other leading real-estate bodies at the PIA table and we look forward to helping to  widen understanding of the role that  property and development can play in generating prosperous, vibrant and sustainable cities.”

Marc Mogull, chairman of ULI UK, said, “As a global not-for-profit seeking to improve responsible land use and with a track record of providing a neutral forum to improve dialogue between the real estate fraternity and wider stakeholders including Government, ULI is delighted to join the excellent work the PIA is undertaking.”

John Hale, Manager of Investment Affairs at the ABI, said, “Commercial property is an important market for the insurance and risk management services provided by ABI members. But as institutional investors they are themselves both significant owners of commercial property and a provider of finance to the sector. These make a significant contribution to the asset portfolio which underpins the liabilities that the insurance industry assumes on behalf of its customers.”

ENDS