Leyton Funds has more than tripled its property holdings

Leyton Funds has quietly overseen a significant expansion in its property portfolio, with its value soaring to $350m.

Leyton Funds managing director Warwick Mittiga.

Investment firm Leyton Funds has quietly overseen a significant expansion in its property portfolio, with its value soaring from under $100m in 2020 to $350m at the beginning of 2024, according to managing director Warwick Mittiga.

“We are in a great place at the moment and really excited about the future,” he said.

Leyton Funds is a South Australian-owned and managed real estate funds management firm acquiring commercial, retail and industrial property in the state, with additional assets in Queensland and Western Australia.

Mr Mittiga, who returned to Adelaide in 2016 after a decade-long property career in London, was appointed managing director in 2020 following a leadership restructure.

“While we’ve been in business for more than 15 years, it’s only been in the last four that we’ve really expanded,’’ he said. “Our business was founded as a family office and, although we’ve grown, we have always retained that ethos of being private investors of our own capital, always with an eye for where we can add value”.

Leyton Funds’ diverse portfolio includes neighbourhood shopping centres such as Gawler Central, BlueScope Steel’s new manufacturing hub at Adelaide Airport, industrial properties at Melrose Park, Beverly and Dry Creek, and a $45m advanced manufacturing facility in Adelaide’s north – a joint venture with Bedford Group expected to be completed in 2025.

“Looking back at the onset of Covid in 2020, there was a lot of uncertainty across every part of the economy including in the property market”, Mr Mittiga said.

“However, within a relatively short period markets had roared back through ultra-low interest rates creating a fair bit of dislocation in asset prices.

“Navigating this market was hard, as the wave of capital searching for a home pushed some prices beyond where we felt they should be.

“We tried to be smart about how we found opportunities to invest and sometimes you just have to wait.’’

Despite a competitive market, within four years Leyton Funds had expanded its property assets, acquiring 12 new properties and adding $250m to its portfolio.

Mr Mittiga said the firm had a “simple and considered” approach to every property investment by assessing where it can add value, keeping its investment strategy grounded in real estate fundamentals.

“We try to be really tenant focused,” he said.

Despite Leyton Funds’ optimism, the firm is aware of the challenges confronting businesses, particularly rising costs, as high­lighted in the South Australian Business Chamber and William Buck’s December Quarter Survey of Business Expectations.

“Rising costs across every part of operations are posing significant challenges for businesses,’’ Mr Mittiga said. “The results of the survey align with what we hear from tenants.

“Our business success is inherently linked to the performance of our tenants, so we collaborate with them and look to invest in our real estate for mutual gain.”

Looking ahead, the firm sees interesting opportunities, coinciding with more certainty around interest rate, priming the state for commercial property investment.