"At least six commercial property funds with holdings worth £15bn have now suspended trading, denying tens of thousands of investors access to their money their money until further notice.
And a further giant fund in the sector, the Aberdeen Property Trust, took an equally dramatic - albeit different - step of erasing 17pc of its value at a stroke late on Wednesday night.
Rather than lock customers' money into the fund, Aberdeen Asset Management simply wrote off hundreds of millions of pounds of portfolio value, to bring home to those who wanted to withdraw their money just how much they would lose.
Aberdeen's chief executive Martin Gilbert said: "We have worked hard to deliver realistic options to clients: redeem at a price which reflects the relatively penal impact of short term trading in the property market, or remain in the fund, protected by the anti-dilutive measures we are taking, and look through to the longer term fair value which we expect to be available in less pressured markets."
He added: "Reducing the share price of the Fund reflects the changing market conditions over the past week or so and uncertainty around prices."
He also sounded the ominous warning that "sellers requiring liquidity are having to market properties at sometimes significant discounts to their recent valuations"."
Source: Property fund drops £580m at a stroke as six others, worth £15bn, halt trading
Good job Brexiters, investors in £15 bln worth of funds are fooked, a lot more to follow...
And a further giant fund in the sector, the Aberdeen Property Trust, took an equally dramatic - albeit different - step of erasing 17pc of its value at a stroke late on Wednesday night.
Rather than lock customers' money into the fund, Aberdeen Asset Management simply wrote off hundreds of millions of pounds of portfolio value, to bring home to those who wanted to withdraw their money just how much they would lose.
Aberdeen's chief executive Martin Gilbert said: "We have worked hard to deliver realistic options to clients: redeem at a price which reflects the relatively penal impact of short term trading in the property market, or remain in the fund, protected by the anti-dilutive measures we are taking, and look through to the longer term fair value which we expect to be available in less pressured markets."
He added: "Reducing the share price of the Fund reflects the changing market conditions over the past week or so and uncertainty around prices."
He also sounded the ominous warning that "sellers requiring liquidity are having to market properties at sometimes significant discounts to their recent valuations"."
Source: Property fund drops £580m at a stroke as six others, worth £15bn, halt trading
Good job Brexiters, investors in £15 bln worth of funds are fooked, a lot more to follow...
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