Deutsche Asset Management is planning to roll out a new closed-ended property fund for the British market to exploit what its managers predict will be buoyant demand for property in future years.
DAM said it proposes to launch its UK Property Ventures Fund Number 2 on June 30, aiming for a target investment pool of 100 million pounds.
The Irish-listed fund will be open to UK investors in a tax-exempt form with a lifespan of seven years. It aims to significantly beat growth in the general property investment field, outperforming the IPD UK Monthly index by more than two percent a year.
'We anticipate that once economic growth is re-established and companies begin to expand, demand for high quality office, retail and industrial property will re-emerge,' DeAM said.
The fund is the second property fund of its type to be set up by DAM. The first, launched in 1997, is to be wound up in the summer of this year.
Simon Cooke, managing director of DAMÂ's real estate department, said property funds as a class turned in solid single-digit returns to investors, contrasting with weak equities and modest gains by bonds.
'Property has really come into its own relative to equity and bond markets,' said Cooke, addressing a conference about the new property fund.
DAMÂ's property management group currently manages 720 million pounds of assets.
(source: Reuters)
