Investors eye exit door as property funds prepare to reopen

Products return from six-month exile

Suspended open-ended property funds have been bolstering liquidity and gauging client intentions ahead of finally reopening after nearly six months, in efforts to ensure they are not forced to immediately suspend once again as investors consider whether the latest round of gatings marked "the straw that broke the camel's back".

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors cleared the way for property funds to begin to reopen earlier this month after it recommended a "general lifting" of material uncertainty on the valuation of most UK real estate assets, which had forced funds to gate in March in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Within the IA UK Direct Property sector, the only fund to have reopened at time of writing is Threadneedle UK Property, while L&G Property is slated to open on 13 October. Outside of the sector, St. James's Place also reopened its three UK commercial property funds, which suspen...