M&G Investments has stopped investors from pulling money out of a U.K. property fund, the third big asset manager to suspend a fund after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.
The U.K. fund management arm of the insurer Prudential PLC said that investors have been asking to pull out more money than normal from £4.4 billion ($5.8 billion) M&G Property Portfolio and its feeder fund.
“Investor redemptions in the fund have risen markedly because of the high levels of uncertainty in the U.K. commercial property market since the outcome of the European Union referendum,” the company said.
“Redemptions have now reached a point where M&G believes it can best protect the interests of the funds’ shareholders by seeking a temporary suspension in trading.”
The decision comes on the same day that Aviva Investors said it had also stopped trading in its £1.8 billion Aviva Investors Property Trust following “the extraordinary market circumstances, which are impacting the wider industry.”
“We have acted to safeguard the interests of all our investors by suspending dealing in the fund with immediate effect,” the firm said in a statement.
On Monday, Standard Life Investments suspended trading in a £2.9 billion U.K. commercial real-estate fund.
Prudential plc is a British multinational life insurance and financial services company headquartered in London.
-RW
(via WSJ)
Commercial property funds are less liquid than diversified equity or bond funds and they may have a restriction on withdrawals in general. Haven't seen any mutual funds or commercial banks move to restrict withdrawals which would be more concerning. In fact many bond funds continue to go up in price as interest rates continue to trend down. I wonder if interest rates will begin to go up any time soon?
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