InvestorWebResearchhas upgraded three investment managers in its latest Australian listed property sector review and reduced the number of managers on its recommended list from seven to five.
JB Were,AMPandHSBCwere all upgraded from ‘buy’ to ‘strong buy’, whileMacquarieandBT/Principal were downgraded and removed from the recommended list.
Macquarie was downgraded from ‘strong buy’ to ‘buy’ due to below index performance over the short-term and BT/Principal was placed under review following the resignation of its listed property trust (LPT) team earlier in the year.
However, yesterday BT appointed a new property analyst, Julia Forrest, to its LPT team, which is headed by Antoinette Plater.
The five managers remaining on the research group’s recommended list are APN,Credit Suisse Asset Management, ING Investment Management,Merrill Lynch Investment ManagersandUBS Global Asset Management.
InvestorWeb general manager of managed investments Martin Kerr says LPTs remain the top performing asset class and anticipates the yield from the sector to continue.
“Generally, active listed property managers continue to add value over the index, with the median manager adding 0.8 per cent per annum,” Kerr says.
InvestorWeb launched the sector review, which covers 19 funds, with more than 80 per cent invested in LPTs over a three year performance period, in January 2003.
