Nov. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Scottish Widows Investment Partnership aims to complete two real-estate purchases in the U.K. in coming days as customers pour money into its property mutual funds.

The fund manager is preparing to start a 500 million-pound ($833 million) “metro” fund investing in seven U.K. cities, Chief Executive Officer Dean Buckley said. It’s also planning a pan-European metro fund.

“Right now we are more cautious on the outlook for both equities and credit markets,” Buckley, 49, said in a telephone interview yesterday. “On property we are more optimistic. We are actively buying properties right now.”

The company, part of Britain’s Lloyds Banking Group Plc, is investing money from customers looking to buy at or near the bottom of the market for commercial property. Buckley said clients had added a net 200 million pounds to Scottish Widows’ real-estate funds during the past three months.

The two acquisitions, worth 45 million pounds and 20 million pounds, follow a 66 million-pound investment in a retail park in Edinburgh, where Scottish Widows is based, Buckley said.

The 1.4 billion-pound SWIP Property Trust has fallen 4.1 percent during the past year, versus an average peer increase of 3.8 percent, placing the fund 24th out of 36, figures from Chicago-based Morningstar Inc. showed. Scottish Widows oversees 4.45 billion pounds of real-estate assets.

Malcolm Naish, head of property, will report directly to Buckley after real estate and fixed income were established as separate businesses, Buckley said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tim Farrand in Edinburgh at tfarrand@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 10, 2009 05:13 EST