First State Global and Asian Property Securities update

First State Investments (UK) Ltd (“First State”) is proud to announce that Standard & Poor’s has very recently awarded an ‘AA’ rating to the First State Asian Property Securities Fund and an ‘A’ rating to the First State Global Property Securities Fund.

These achievements are received at a time when First State is celebrating the first anniversary of these two property securities funds.

Charlie Metcalfe, Chief Executive Officer, First State Investments commented: “Well done to our property securities team on achieving these S& P ratings and for delivering positive investment returns on the property funds, particularly during a period of volatile markets. The S& P ratings clearly demonstrate the industry’s recognition of the experience and wealth of knowledge of this team, which is headed by John Snowden, Head of Global Property Securities.

“Appetite for First State’s property securities funds is gaining momentum. This team now manages over £3 billion in segregated and pooled mandates globally. We are confident that we will see an increase in interest for our property securities funds now that we have reached the first year milestone.”

At a time when the US property market is going through turmoil; the UK property market is indicating a slowdown and global property markets have generally fallen with the UBS Global Real Estate Index down -5.7% in sterling terms, First State’s Global Property Securities team believes that their two funds are well placed to take advantage of some more promising international property markets, particularly in the Far East.

John Snowden, Head of Global Property Securities said: “Whilst we recognise the current short-term risks for investing in property securities, we believe the long-term outlook remains positive. The global property market is currently experiencing solid growth, encouraged by strong economies, increased demand for income generating property-type assets, and changes in regulations which have stimulated the rapid growth of Real Estate Investment Trusts. The asset class should be supported by strong global economic fundamentals, robust liquidity flows and the vigorous growth of Asia.

“Having Global property securities and Asian property securities funds has allowed our team to position the portfolios in interesting markets. The Far East has been a bright spot for global property investors, in particular. Asian property securities outperformed strongly this year) with the UBS Asia Property Index (including Japan & Australia) rising by 22.2%. Real Estate fundamentals in the Far East are particularly strong with high levels of rental growth. We believe that the market is at a very positive state of development as economies are experiencing rapid economic growth led by China and India, which we anticipate will continue for a significant period.

“Against this background, we believe that property securities should therefore be a key part of an investor’s diversified investment portfolio.”