How First State is playing property bounce back

The £132m First State Global Property Securities fund has dominated the IMA Property sector over the last five years, being one of only two funds to make a positive return over that period, and has returned 84.5% since 2009.

The fund, managed by Marco van Bussel and Andrew Nicholas, was impacted along with peers when the UK’s property market collapsed in 2007, deepening the impact of the subsequent financial crisis. However, under the stewardship of van Bussel and Nicholas, First State’s offering has captured a lot of the gains on offer as markets bounced back. According to van Bussel, the main contributor to returns was the fund’s focus on shares as opposed to direct property. “Direct property investment funds across the UK and the rest of Europe continue to find it difficult to sell underlying assets a...