BT : Asian non-listed property funds back in the buzz

Business Times - 23 Jun 2010

Asian non-listed property funds back in the buzz

A SURVEY of organisations active in the Asian non-listed real estate funds market has found that 63 per cent of investors plan to increase allocations to Asian non-listed real estate funds.

The proportion is still lower than the 88 per cent that were planning to increase allocations in a similar survey done in 2008, but shows a sharp uptrend from 2009's figures. Last year, just 24 per cent of respondents were planning to increase their allocations.

Findings from the survey, which was by Asian Association for Investors in Non-listed Real Estate Vehicles or Anrev, were released yesterday at the Real Estate Investment World Asia conference. The 75 respondents were either investors, fund managers or fund of funds managers.

Anrev's numbers show that as at end-2009, Asian real estate allocations accounted for 4.1 per cent of investors' global portfolio on average, with a further 9 per cent allocated to non-Asian real estate investments. The survey also found that the lack of transparency and market information continues to be the single biggest challenge faced by 74 per cent of investors surveyed when investing in Asian non-listed property funds - a view also shared by 63 per cent of fund managers surveyed.

China's retail and residential sectors were selected by the highest proportion of investors (47 per cent) as markets that offer the most appealing performance prospects. Around 21 per cent of investors also picked Australia's retail market and Vietnam's residential market, making them the second most preferred markets in Asia.

Around 37 per cent of investors are of the view that there are not enough non-listed property vehicles suitable for investment in their favoured Asian markets. However, only 13 per cent of fund managers and fund of funds managers share the same opinion.

Copyright © 2010 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.