NOT EASY TO SELL A SHOPPING CENTRE

I’ve never been keen on property funds for the reason that there are other alternatives and frankly, history, literature and even religious texts are full of examples of tenancy gone wrong. When people want their money out, it isn’t easy to simply sell a shopping centre, so its paid from cash reserves until deals can come through, which often means that funds hold a fair bit of cash to cover normal exits. I have now experienced multiple occasions when property funds were suspended and never want to put clients at risk in this way.

Admittedly there are REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) which is really an investment into a single company which then invests in property. The main advantage being that you own shares in the company, which can be much more easily traded (in theory). However, as a company and “Investment Trust” it can borrow money to invest in more property – known as gearing. This can be great when things are going well, but disastrous when they are not, magnifying the returns of each.

As there are plenty of ways to skin a cat, I just don’t see why you need to take this additional risk, which is dressed up as diversification. So we don’t… and that’s another thing you don’t have to worry about.

Dominic Thomas
Solomons IFA

You can read more articles about Pensions, Wealth Management, Retirement, Investments, Financial Planning and Estate Planning on my blog which gets updated every week. If you would like to talk to me about your personal wealth planning and how we can make you stay wealthier for longer then please get in touch by calling 08000 736 273 or email info@solomonsifa.co.uk