Investment Triples in U.K. Property Mutual Funds, IMA Says
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Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) -- British mutual fund investors more than tripled the amount of money poured into real estate in the fourth quarter as record-low rates for savings accounts boosted the appeal of higher-yielding investments.
Savers put a net 1.39 billion pounds ($2.2 billion) in property mutual funds, up from 422 million pounds in the preceding three months, according to figures compiled by the Investment Management Association, a London-based industry group.
A 44 percent slide in U.K. property values in the two years ended in July revived investor appetite for income-producing investments such as real state that also offer some protection from inflation. The 1.81 billion pounds in total inflows to property funds in the second half followed more than a year of net withdrawals.
Money managers such as Aviva Investors, the unit of Aviva Plc that manages Britain’s largest real estate mutual fund, resumed purchases after being forced to sell buildings to meet fund redemptions. That helped double the value of U.K. commercial property deals in the fourth quarter from a year earlier to 9.7 billion pounds, according to Property Data.
