Aviva Investors today advises that the European Property Fund (EPF) has temporarily suspended dealing in order to safeguard investor interests in challenging market conditions.
Aviva Investors today advises that the European Property Fund (EPF) has temporarily suspended dealing in order to safeguard investor interests in challenging market conditions.
Dealing has been suspended as a result of:
- A lack of immediate liquidity in the fund due to a rapid increase in the level of redemptions over the last few weeks.
- Weaker market conditions which have lengthened the sale time for commercial properties.
The suspension means the EPF will not meet redemption requests until the liquidity position in the fund has improved sufficiently to meet such requests. Redemption instructions will be held on file and executed on the first dealing day following the end of the suspension period.
Aviva Investors will continue to monitor the subscription/redemption positions and will reintroduce normal trading for the EPF as soon as possible.
Ben Stirling, managing director continental Europe real estate at Aviva Investors, said: "Trading in the European Property Fund has been suspended in order to safeguard the interests of all our investors.
"Weaker market conditions have led to an immediate lack of liquidity in the fund. The European commercial property market has slowed and it is taking longer to turn properties into cash at acceptable prices. At the same time, redemptions have been running at high levels. As we have seen in the last weeks, a number of European real estate funds have suspended in this difficult market.
"We are contacting investors in the fund to explain what this means for them and are doing all we can to return the fund to normal trading as quickly as possible."
-ends-
For more information contact:
Angela Warburton
Corporate Communications
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7809 8618
Notes to editors:
Aviva Investors
Aviva Investors is the global asset management business of Aviva plc, the world's fifth-largest insurance group. The company operates under a single brand with more than 1,100 employees in 21 locations across North America, the UK, Europe, and the Asia Pacific.
Aviva Investors combines the following former businesses in: the UK (Morley); France (Aviva Gestion d'Actifs); North America (Aviva Capital Management, MFM International, Aviva Investment Canada); Ireland (Hibernian Investment Managers); Australia (Portfolio Partners); Poland (CUIM Polska); and Romania (CertInvest).
Aviva plc
Aviva is the leading provider of life and pension products in Europe with substantial positions in other markets around the world, making it the world's fifth largest insurance group based on gross worldwide premiums at 31 December 2007.
Aviva's principal business activities are long-term savings, fund management and general insurance, with worldwide total sales of £49.2 billion at 31 December 2007 and funds under management of £359 billion at 30 June 2008.
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