Confidence in sector stays high; Location IN ASSOCIATION WITH Rensburg Sheppards Fears of a crash played down.Byline: BY TONY McDONOUGH Deputy Business Editor LONG-TERM confidence in the UK's commercial property sector remains high despite a big increase in the amount of money taken out of specialist investment funds Noun 1. investment funds - money that is invested with an expectation of profit investment assets - anything of material value or usefulness that is owned by a person or company in recent months. Figures released by the Association of Real Estate Funds (AREF AREF Army Reserve Expeditionary Force ) show that the flow of money out of UK property funds has doubled since the spring. Redemptions increased from pounds 324m in the first quarter to pounds 641m in the second. Commercial property has been a hugely popular destination for money since the turn of the century when people were stung stung v. Past tense and past participle of sting. stung Verb the past of sting Adj. 1. by falling shares prices and have been rewarded with several years of double-digit returns. However, with interest rates rising a growing number of investors now believe the commercial property market may have peaked with prices for secondary assets already starting to fall. Some investment fund managers - including New Star, Norwich Union Norwich Union is an insurance company in the UK. It is the biggest life-insurer in the UK, and has a strong position in motor insurance. It is part of the Aviva group, itself created by a merger of Norwich Union and CGU plc in 2000. and Standard Life - have introduced stiff penalties for those wanting to pull their money out of property funds in a bid to stem the outward flow. With equity markets also seemingly seem·ing adj. Apparent; ostensible. n. Outward appearance; semblance. seem  ing·ly adv. in turmoil at the moment
investors may not know which way to turn.
But the AREF figures also show a healthy inflow in·flow n. 1. The act or process of flowing in or into: an inflow of water; an inflow of information. 2. of money into property funds with around El.lbn being invested during the second quarter of this year. AREF chairman Nick Cooper, who works for ING, said: "The message I'm trying to get out is that it's not doom and gloom doom and gloom n. Gloom and doom. doom -and-gloom adj. as a lot of people, perhaps the uneducated, may have suggested."
Last month New Star's head of global property, Stuart Webster, also sought to play down fears of a crash insisting commercial real estate was still a solid long-term investment. "Commercial property gets peaks and troughs. If interest rates have gone up, then it is a challenge. "We don't expect property to crash, but I'm not saying there will not be some falls in some areas where there has been explosive growth." tonymcdonough@dailypost.co.uk CAPTION(S): Firms are using penalties |
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