Allianz Global Investors, a subsidiary of German insurer Allianz, is liquidating its €1.2bn real estate fund of funds which has remained closed for redemptions since September due to confusion and closure in the nation’s €86bn open-ended property fund community.
As the sector is still not recovering, re-opening the fund is unrealistic, AGI said in a statement. AGI closed the FoF, named Premium Management Immobilien Anlagen, after a run on capital in late September reduced assets by several billion euros. Many GOEPFs closed during the massive run on liquidity during the financial crisis, only to be hit again – after a few had succeeded in re-opening briefly - by market uncertainty arising from publication of draft legislation on investor protection in May. Sector consolidation is still under way.
AGI is aiming to pay out €500m to investors in a first tranche this October. Current fund liquidity is at 40% and the company will continue asset sales. The fund was originally issued by Commerzbank’s investment company cominvest in May 2008, prior to the entry of the giant Allianz group into Commerzbank’s equity base in exchange for Munich-based insurer’s Dresdner Bank subsidiary. AGI is Germany’s largest asset manager with €358bn AUM.
Separately, Schroder Property, the real estate arm of the London-based investment manager, found that the new GOEPF regulations are deterring institutions from allocating capital to the vehicles. Some 38% of investors said they will not invest in open-ended funds any more due to the government’s newly-legislated two-year holding period and 12-month redemption notice. Some 65% are currently invested in OEPFs but only half are planning to buy new shares over the next year. Every third investor wants to divest by the end of the year, and only 13% of typical institutions – insurance groups, banks, family offices and pension funds – are planning renewed investments.
Fonte: PIE – Property Investor Europe
|