Legal & General UK Property Trust over £100m in funds invested

Legal & General’s UK Property Trust, which launched on 28 February 2006, has broken through the £100 million barrier in funds invested in its first year.

The fund, which aims to deliver a level of capital growth and income by investing in a diversified portfolio of UK commercial property, has performed strongly this year. It is managed by Michael Barrie and has proved popular with Legal & General’s retail investment customers since launch. It is available to customers as an ISA investment, for ISA and PEP transfers and for direct investment.

Claire Stracey, Director Customer Marketing said: “The success of this fund in both assets under management (AUM) growth and overall return for investors underpins our decision to include commercial property as an asset class available for retail investors (and especially as an ISA investment). An investment in the Legal & General UK Property Unit Trust at launch would have returned around 18 per cent to investors by the first anniversary.

Legal & General has a great deal of experience in commercial property investment with over £12 billion currently invested in the commercial property sector for our institutional and retail customers. We believe that demand will remain strong for this tax efficient property investment among investors who are seeking the potential for growth and income in an ISA.”

Michael Barrie, Property Director Legal & General Investment Management commented: “We have been focussing effort on acquisitions in the Retail Parks sector and in Central London Offices, where we see a lower ‘void rates’ and consistent rental growth, and reducing our exposure in certain High Street properties. This has helped to drive our total return over the last 12 months. The regular inflow of money into the fund will enable us to continue to deliver additional value through asset led activity going forward.”

Investment is available as a maxi ISA, mini stocks and shares ISA, PEP/ISA transfers and direct unit trust investment. The minimum investment is £50 per month and £500 for lump sum. The maximum investment for maxi ISAs is £7,000 and for mini stocks and shares ISAs £4,000 for the 2006/2007 and 2007/2008 tax years. There is no limit for PEP/ISA transfers and direct investments into the unit trust. Your existing manager may charge an exit fee on transfers.

The value of an investment of this type (and any income received from it) can fall as well as rise, is not guaranteed and investors may not get back the original amount invested. This investment should be considered a medium to long-term investment of at least five years.