Standard Life Suspends Trading in U.K. Property Fund, Citing Brexit Withdrawals
05 July 2016 - 11:10AM
Dow Jones News
Standard Life Investments has suspended trading in a £ 2.9
billion ($3.9 billion) U.K. commercial real-estate fund after the
number of investors asking to pull their money out rose after
Britain's vote to leave the European Union.
Trading in the Standard Life Investments U.K. Real Estate Fund,
which invests in commercial real estate including office, retail
and warehouse properties, as well as its associated feeder fund was
halted from midday Monday, the fund manager said in a
statement.
The company said that the action was taken due to "exceptional
market circumstances."
"The decision was taken following an increase in redemption
requests as a result of uncertainty for the U.K. commercial real
estate market following the EU referendum result," it said in a
statement.
"The suspension was requested to protect the interests of all
investors in the fund and to avoid compromising investment returns
from the range, mix and quality of assets within the
portfolio."
A spokeswoman said the fund will be closed for the foreseeable
future to give the fund manager more time to sell assets to raise
its cash levels at the best possible price.
It is rare for fund managers to impose such so-called gates on
funds, although it became more common after the financial crisis in
2008. At that time, fears of falling property prices triggered high
levels of redemptions that funds were unable to meet.
A spokesman for Aberdeen Asset Management, which also manages a
listed open-ended U.K. commercial real estate fund worth £ 3.2
billion, said it had no plans to suspend trading on the fund. "We
have seen a slowdown in redemptions since the referendum vote and
the fund has significant cash holdings," the company said in a
statement.
A Columbia Threadneedle Investments spokesman said there were
"no changes" to its U.K. commercial property fund.
Elizabeth Pfeuti and Bernard Goyder contributed to this
article.
Write to Darren Lazarus at Darren.Lazarus@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 04, 2016 20:55 ET (00:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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