Fourth global LPT fund in four months

A FOURTH option for advisers wanting exposure to offshore listed property trusts (LPTs) has emerged, with AMP Capital Investors (AMPCI) launching a retail version of its Global Property Fund.

It was beaten to the market by Deutsche AssetManagement, which made global and ex-Australia versions of its Global Property Securities Fund available to the retail market in October, and BT Financial Group, which followed with its US-dominated fund in December.

According to Morningstar researcher Phillip Gray, the “stampede” of global LPT funds is a reaction to adviser demand for opportunities beyond Australia’s listed property market, where the number of stocks shrunk rapidly in heavy merger and acquisition activity last year, at the same time as new markets for securitised property sprang up in Europe and Asia.

AMPCI’s fund has run in wholesale form since October 2002, in which time it has returned 37.4 per cent before fees against 34 per cent for its benchmark, the UBS Global Real Estate Investors index (AUD hedged).

The fund is run by AMPCI’s head of property securities Brett Ward, backed by three other analysts in Sydney, a Henderson Global Investors team covering Asia and Europe, and boutique KG Redding & Associates, which covers US real estate investment trusts (REITs).

Tactical asset allocation (TAA) is overseen by a global committee chaired by Patrick Sumner in London.

In an otherwise upbeat assessment, Assirt Research recently expressed doubts over the fund’s ability to add value by TAA, but senior analyst Richard Shields said this reflected global listed property markets since the fund’s inception.

“It’s true most of our returns have come from stock selection, because all of the regional markets have been strong since 2002. The one exception to that was the US REIT index falling 15 per cent last March, and we were on the right side of that anyway.”