(Recasts with L&G, Standard Life Aberdeen, Janus Henderson)
By Carolyn Cohn
LONDON, June 16 (Reuters) - Asset managers M&G,
Legal & General, Standard Life and Janus
Henderson said they were keeping their property funds
frozen as valuers continue to struggle to assess real estate
assets due to the coronavirus crisis.
M&G froze its $3.2 billion UK Property Portfolio in
December, as uncertainty over Brexit and weakness in Britain's
retail commercial property sector prompted redemption requests.
Most other UK property funds also halted redemptions in
March, as valuers said there was "material uncertainty" about
property values at the end of the first quarter due to the
coronavirus pandemic.
As the second quarter draws to a close, M&G said its valuers
were still applying a material uncertainty clause due to the
lack of property deals. However, it said its clause did not
apply to the industrial and logistics property sectors where
there had been transactions.
Legal & General said there was no change to the
lock-up of its 2.9 billion pound ($3.7 billion) fund.
Standard Life said two funds totalling about 500
million pounds remained frozen due to valuation difficulties,
while Janus Henderson said the material uncertainty clause still
applied to its 500 million pound fund.
The funds are expected to remain frozen till at least
September due to the valuation challenges, and some of those
which usually offer daily redemptions may need to change
structure to survive, industry sources say.
The M&G fund has 181 million pounds in real estate assets
under offer or for sale and the sale of all of the asset would
bring cash levels up to 16.1%, M&G said in a statement.
"Reopening the fund for dealing will depend on cash levels
but will also be contingent on the material uncertainty clause
being lifted," it said.
Other frozen property funds include those managed by Aviva
, Columbia Threadneedle, Kames and Royal London. They did
not immediately respond to request for comment.
($1 = 0.7920 pounds)
(Additional reporting by Sinead Cruise; Editing by Emelia
Sithole-Matarise and Edmund Blair)