Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1309486
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 15 NOVEMBER 2020 14 COMMERCIAL From a full conversion to a fast rental One of our many success stories THINK Project Turnkey. Think Property Management. Think monetising your investment through long term rentals. At Frank Salt Real Estate these three services come together thanks to the agency's one-stop shop concept for its clients. Proof of this is the team's latest transformation – a block of five dilapidated apartments in St Ju- lian's which have been expertly converted into bespoke rent- al apartments by the agency's Home Interiors Division, then rented out in no time by the let- ting team with the block and the rentals being managed by the company's Property Manage- ment Division. The client's brief was simple – to convert the apartments and obtain the maximum re- turn with a conservative in- vestment, whilst of course ensuring that the properties looked at their best. The inves- tor also wanted to have as lit- tle involvement with managing the properties as possible, es- pecially after the properties are put on the rental market. This brief was not a first for Frank Salt Real Estate. With 50 years of experience in real estate, the Group was one of the very first to set up a property letting op- eration, the first estate agency in malta to offer Property Man- agement services and the first estate agency in Malta to also offer its clients professional guidance when finishing and furnishing the property they would have purchased. So how did the respective teams go about it? The first phase required the Home In- teriors Division to sit down with the client and discuss how to transform the older type properties into modern homes reflecting today's tenants' ex- pectations. The conversion in- volved minor structural chang- es to modernise the building. New floor plans and furniture layouts were drawn out and proposed to the client before proceeding to carry out the works required in the shortest time possible. Admittedly, the coordination of the various trades people involved is a daunting task re- gardless of the scale of the pro- ject, but with the right (expert) help, most of the convention- al headaches can be avoided. Frank Salt Real Estate has been offering this turnkey service for over 16 years and has to- day garnered a reputation for a timely execution of any project whilst ensuring that budgets are met. The division's client base is predominantly existing Frank Salt Real Estate clients who would have purchased a prop- erty through the agency, with a mix of both local investors as well as investors from overseas. Regardless of who the cli- ent is, Frank Salt Real Estate's Home Interiors ethos revolves around providing a profession- al and ethical service – always keeping its clients updated with what is happening and what will follow next. Once all furniture was in place and the finishing touches added, the agency lost no time to start promoting the proper- ties and find suitable tenants. Professional photography was taken, a marketing plan was executed and the requests for viewings started rolling in. The strong letting team that the agency operates succeeded to rent out all five apartments in less than 6 weeks. The properties are now man- aged by the firm's Property Management division. Set up more than 20 years ago, the division is one of the largest in its field with a 10+ team of handymen and executives who handle just about anything for their assigned properties. This includes a dedicated handyman service, collection of rent due, management and payment of bills, coordinating home insur- ance requirements, cleaning service and more. For property owners who want to maximise on their in- vestment without getting in- volved in the day to day man- agement or sourcing and then looking after tenants, Frank Salt Real Estate's services are a no brainer. The Group offers a full hands-on management and rental service. Your property is in safe hands, looked after by a re- sponsible team of people who genuinely care about what they do", says Bronia, Property Di- vision Manager. 'We are moti- vated to help you increase your rental income, and together we will plan the best approach to achieve this,' adds Philippa, Property Letting Manager. Stock markets in COVID-19 times and technology equities to be discussed during a MeDirect webinar MEDIRECT Bank is organising a third medirectalk investment webinar for 2020 which will be providing an expert overview of the stock markets in view of COVID-19, as well as an analysis of technology equities. The event will take place on- line, on 19th November 2020 at 18.00hrs and is free of charge. It follows on the highly suc- cessful September's webinar which focussed on investment opportunities in infrastructure assets and the creation of sus- tainable income. medirectalk is a series of sem- inars and webinars organised by MeDirect, featuring sever- al financial experts and asset managers sharing their views on market and investment op- portunities. The upcoming medirec- talk is organised by MeDirect Bank Malta, together with Blue Whale Growth Fund. The webinar will start with an overview of the stock markets within the current pandem- ic crisis and will be followed by the keynote speech of Ste- phen Yiu, Chief Investment Officer at Blue Whale Capital and Lead Manager of the Blue Whale Growth Fund. Yiu will be giving his views on technol- ogy stocks and an overview of Blue Whale's approach to stock valuation. Stephen Yiu, co-founded Blue Whale Capital in 2016, with Peter Hargreaves who is a co-founder of Hargreaves Lansdown. Yiu started his ca- reer at Hargreaves Lansdown before working with Tim Steer as a co-manager at New Star Asset Management (now Janus Henderson) and Artemis In- vestment Management. Most recently, Yiu worked under Martin Taylor and Nick Barnes at Nevsky Capital, a global long-short equity hedge fund. Born in Hong Kong, Yiu grew up in Singapore before com- pleting his education in the UK. A fluent speaker of Eng- lish, Cantonese and Mandarin, Yiu is truly a global citizen, and with his 15 years of investment experience, is well equipped to manage portfolios in the new global economy. The Blue Whale Growth Fund is a global equity fund, focus- sing on large-cap stocks in developed markets. The Fund was launched in September 2017 and since inception it is the best performing fund out of 300 in the IA Global sector. The five-member investment team, led by Yiu, embraces a high conviction, valuation-driven approach to stock selection. At any given point, the fund will be invested into the best 25 to 35 stocks. The session is an interactive one, and participants will be invited to ask their questions during a 30-minute Q&A ses- sion with Stephen Yiu. Ques- tions can be submitted via the online platform during the event or sent in advance to reg- istrations@medirect.com.mt In order to register for this medirectalk, as well as to view past events visit: https://www. medirect.com.mt/invest/medi- rectalk