Charter Hall Group (ASX:CHC) launched Charter Hall Convenience Retail Fund, a wholesale pooled fund with a strategy to invest in metropolitan convenience shopping centers and select metropolitan net-lease retail assets, according to a Friday Australian bourse filing.

The fund began with an initial AU$1.35 billion gross asset value portfolio, with 16 assets sourced from both off-market transactions and the transfer of assets and equity investments in existing retail partnerships from Charter Hall Retail REIT (ASX: CQR).

Wholesale investors are in advanced due diligence for further investment in the fund during this calendar year, per the filing.

The firm also reached final terms for an appointment to manage Challenger Life's direct Australian property assets, comprising AU$2.1 billion in property assets. The assets will be managed within the group's wholesale investment management platform.

Charter Hall's shares rose 2% in recent trading on Friday.