Three UK RE Funds Suspend Trading

City Place House, M&G Investments’ real estate headquarters in London.

LONDON—Citing a high volume of withdrawals in the aftermath of the referendum on membership in the European Union, three of the UK’s largest real estate funds have suspended trading. M&G Investments, Aviva Investments and Standard Life Investments each halted trading in funds totaling about nine billion pounds, or US$12 billion, between Monday and Tuesday of this week.

“Investor redemptions in the fund have risen markedly because of the high levels of uncertainty in the UK commercial property market since the outcome of the European Union referendum,” M&G said Tuesday of its decision to halt trading in shares of its M&G Property Portfolio, which had 4.4 billion pounds in assets under management as of June 30. “Redemptions have now reached a point where M&G believes it can best protect the interests of the funds’ shareholders by seeking a temporary suspension in trading. This will allow the fund manager time to raise cash levels in a controlled manner, ensuring that any asset disposals are achieved at reasonable values.”