Notice Period: Friends Provident Property Funds

Six months

Demand for commercial property investment in the UK significantly declined in the second half of 2007.  As a result many funds offering direct property investment are either being re-priced, having many of their underlying properties re-valued, or both, leading to falls in their value.  

Friends Provident, are seeing significant and sustained withdrawals from their funds due to this negative outlook.  The impact on customers is that a notice period of up to six months has been introduced for anyone requesting surrenders, partial surrenders, new or changes to existing regular withdrawals and switches or transfers out of the fund.  

Our view

The underlying assets in property funds i.e.  bricks, mortar and land remain.  The fact remains that ‘they are not making any more land’.  So we still see property as a good, solid long term investment.  Yes, it may have a few years of indifferent sector performance but the fact remains that our population is expected to increase by 10 million or so in the next 20 years.  Invest in land and property funds for the long term.

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