Schroder Global Property Securities streets ahead in 1st year

Schroder Global Property Securities Fund celebrates its first anniversary with 35.9% return since launch, outperforming the FTSE EPRA NAREIT index by 5.6 %.

In its first year, the fund has benefited from exposure to the strong office rental growth in Asian and European markets, as well as the improving health of the US commercial property market.

The fund targets long-term total returns from investments in listed REITs and property companies located around the world. Fund Manager, Jim Rehlaender, analyses bottom-up fundamentals to seek attractively priced property securities, primarily targeting high quality property assets with good quality management and exposure to strong underlying property market conditions.

Jim Rehlaender, Fund Manager of the Schroder Global Property Securities Fund, said: “We are continuing to find excellent opportunities within real estate markets around the world. Valuations are supported by improving rental levels in many markets, notably in the office sectors, for example in Paris and Tokyo. Furthermore, the growing appetite for real estate globally is leading to further momentum, and continued M& A activity illustrates the good value in the sector. Given the solid outlook, we expect very competitive returns from global property securities in 2007, versus wider bond and equities investments.”

Robin Stoakley, Managing Director, Schroders’ UK Retail Business, said: “Jim and his 12-strong team have clearly demonstrated their considerable property investment expertise delivering impressive outperformance in our fund’s first year.”

“The case for investing in global property securities is strong and is supported by the growing universe of REITs. By investing purely in UK property, investors are limiting themselves to only 7% of the global property universe. The Schroder Global Property Securities fund diversifies property exposure across many markets, reducing single-market risk, whilst still achieving solid diversification from their other asset classes.”

The Schroder Global Property Securities Fund is managed in conjunction with EII, a US based global property securities manager. EII’s dedicated global property securities team, coupled with Schroders’ international investment perspective provides a deep pool of expertise for the management of the Schroder Global Property Securities Fund. The fund charges are 5.25% initial and 1.5% annual management charge.