Dec 7 (Reuters) - M&G's life and pensions arm said
it has suspended a 164 million pound property fund, days after
the British fund manager froze dealing in its 2.5 billion pound
($3.21 billion) flagship UK property fund.
The ban impacts the Prudential M&G Property Portfolio Fund,
a fund fully invested in M&G's Property Portfolio which was
suspended on Dec. 4, an M&G spokesman said in an emailed
statement on Saturday.
M&G suspended dealing in its flagship UK property fund on
Wednesday, blaming Brexit uncertainty and weakness in the retail
sector for a surge in investor requests to cash out.
"Due to our change in strategy as well as economic and
political uncertainty, the cloud hanging over traditional
retail, we actively took the decision to reduce our exposure in
our funds to all forms of property investment," the statement
said.
The suspension does not impact PruFund Growth, PruFund
Cautious or the Risk Managed PruFund range of funds as they do
not invest in M&G Property, the spokesman said.
The company will continue to allow withdrawals linked to
retirement benefits, he added.
M&G completed its demerger from Prudential plc to form a
separate business M&G plc on Oct. 21.
M&G plc has the right to use the brand name Prudential for
life and pensions in UK and Europe, and M&G Investments
globally.
($1 = 0.7794 pounds)
(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru and Carolyn Cohn in
London;
Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
Prudential (PRU)