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Octopus Healthcare Fund Reaches Two New Milestones

by Lisa Carr

Octopus Investments (Octopus), part of Octopus Group, an investment manager investing in the people, ideas and industries that will change the world, today announces two significant achievements in its Octopus Healthcare Fund (OHF) portfolio: its 100th care home and a 5-star rating in the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB).

OHF aims to ensure people can access the care they need when they need it. Its mission is to create exceptional facilities you’d choose for your loved ones, investing in best-in-class care homes across the UK.

Reaching the 100th care home milestone equates to providing over 7,000 much-needed quality care beds across the UK. Octopus is one of the major landlords in the UK care homes sector, and with its focus on forward-funding the delivery of new homes where they’re needed, OHF has contributed approximately 10% (1553 beds) of all new high quality care beds in the UK over the last three years.

GRESB is the preeminent sustainability benchmark for the real estate investment industry, and accordingly OHF’s GRESB score underlines its commitment to sustainability considerations in care homes. In the 2023 results, OHF was awarded 5-stars and an overall score of 91/100. This puts OHF first in its peer group, third (out of 34) within Healthcare Europe and well above the GRESB average of 75/100. The overall score was attained by maintaining full marks of 30/30 in the ‘Management’ category and 61/70 in the ‘Performance’ category.

The ‘Management’ score evaluates OHF’s relationship with, and impact on, its stakeholders, as well as the quality of its governance around ESG. The ‘Performance’ score specifically reflects the environmental performance of OHF’s portfolio, the data it collects, and the actions being taken to reduce the portfolio’s environmental impact.

Behind the success of the care home investments at Octopus is a dedicated team of 14 professionals, comprising property and investment experts, together with an in-house Clinical Assurance team of qualified nurses that frequently visit the homes, providing guidance and hands-on support to care home operators.

Mike Toft, Head of Care Homes, commented:

“The UK continues to face a shortage of quality care homes. Our longer-living population will correspond with an increase in care needs, but the UK’s existing social care infrastructure is not yet fit to cope. Reaching our 100th care home and our new GRESB rating demonstrates both our determination to stem this shortage and our understanding of what ‘fit for the future’ care homes look like.

“Picture a care home equipped with cutting-edge design and technology, complete accessibility including an ensuite wet room, and powered by renewable energy. These are the homes that have the potential to revolutionise the care experience and what institutional capital has the power to enable.”

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