BlackRock has hired a portfolio manager from rival Aviva Investors to manage its new long lease property fund, as the world’s largest fund manager continues to bolster its property business.

Geoffrey Shaw is joining the firm after six years as assistant fund manager of the Aviva Investors Lime Property Fund. Having been around for nearly a decade, the fund is one of the oldest long-lease property funds in the UK, which has seen a flurry of new launches of funds offering exposure to that market in recent months.