MMSEP22_11.PG014.pdf
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Listed Property
The listed property shows new blossom
Everything old is new. It seems that the listed property sector is returning to its previous model and slowly becoming a defensive asset again. This has resulted in more positive adviser and investor attitude towards listed property, which is not to say that all bad apples have been weeded out of the sector. Benjamin Levy reports. LISTED property is going back to basics. The 2007 investment approach of explosive growth, unsustainably high dividends, and excessive gearing levels that was shattered by the financial crisis has given way to what the sector was meant to be – a conservative, defensive growth asset offering steady, inflation protected returns. As the sector shifts focus, it is beginning to once again attract the attention of financial planners looking for a steady income stream for retired clients and a viable alternative to the shaky performance of domestic equities. But choosing what to invest in needs to be a careful exercise. Listed property groups with ongoing debt problems still exist and can yet prove dangerous to
investors, while others are too tied to the market to provide alternative returns for portfolios. The issue of excessive concentration in the domestic market continues to dog investors, while currency volatility in the Australian dollar threatens overseas income distributions. In a sector where the research houses seem divided on where to place investors’ funds and cannot offer a clear approach, advisers need to carefully consider where the best opportunities can be found.
Back to basics The upheaval of the global financial crisis (GFC), which forced listed property funds to slash their debt, cut high gearing levels and lower high dividends,
14 — Money Management September 22, 2011 www.moneymanagement.com.au
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Listed property this year is down actually about nine per cent, [and] a fair bit of that is equity market volatility even though listed property trusts have reduced their volatility compared to the broader equity market,” McGrath says. – Andrew McGrath
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has sparked a return to conservatism in the listed property sector. Gearing levels in property trusts, which were once as high as 40 per cent, have been reduced to a sector-weighted average of 28 per cent. Exposure to overseas assets has been reduced, and sources of funding have been diversified to cover bonds, US capital markets and the banks. Property trusts are moving back to their core business of managing domestic property, according to co-director of Reliance Investment Management Andrew McGrath. Reliance is the fund manager of Charter Hall Property Securities Fund. “The sector is back to its basics, back to being a defensive asset class, and that