Growing demand from Australian investors for global property exposure has prompted ING Investment Management to launch a locally domiciled global listed property fund, called the ING Wholesale Property Securities Fund.
Ritson Ferguson, chief investment officer of US-based ING Clarion Real Estate Securities, which will manage the fund, said that despite the Australian listed property trust (LPT) sector’s strong performance, higher total returns were potentially available offshore.
“Australian listed property investors have seen great returns, but we believe active management of global property securities can capture stronger regional performance,” he said.
According to the company’s investment report, ING Investment Management House View, which was released this week, the S&P/ASX 200 property index rose 1.7 per cent in August and future sector growth of 3.9 per cent was expected.
The report indicated the company had upgraded its assessment of the sector and overweighted Australian LPTs in its diversified investment portfolios as a result of the figures.
However, Ferguson said over the past 15 years Australia had not once been the best performer in the listed property space when compared to other developed markets such as Hong Kong, Japan, Europe or the US.
“A truly global active strategy can capture the best of Australia as well as other outperforming markets,” he said.
Ferguson said the actively managed fund would invest in publicly listed real estate securities with a focus on companies with operations in North America, Europe, the UK, Asia and Australia and would hold 60-80 stocks from a global universe of approximately 500 real estate companies.
He said the fund would initially be available to institutional investors with plans to provide retail investors access through a range of master trust and wrap platforms.
The fund aimed to provide investors with a total return over an investment cycle competitive with that available from direct ownership of real estate, he said.
