Why invest in the SWIP European Real Estate Fund?
A fully diversified fund – the Fund aims to provide a total return by investing in a portfolio of companies whose activities include the ownership, management or development of UK and/or European real estate.
Performance – over the year to end of December 2010, the Fund returned 15.23%, outperforming its benchmark, the FTSE EPRA Nareit Europe (UK restricted) index, which returned 14.27%. Since 2009, the Fund has been in the IMA Property sector, a global peer group which is more comparable than the Fund's previous sector but which still includes a wide variety of funds. The sector returned 11.75% to the end of December resulting in a second quartile position for the Fund. (Source: Lipper, mid to mid, net of fees and tax, to 31 December 2010)
Income opportunities – the Fund is currently yielding 3.4%, offering an attractive alternative for investors seeking income. (Source: SWIP, historic yield as at 31 December 2010).
Access to expert investment – SWIP’s European equity team backed by our Real Estate team have extensive experience and knowledge of both European real estate and equity markets. They are ideally placed to identify the true worth of real estate equities.
Top-down and bottom-up strategy – we carry out top-down research on economies, real estate markets and sectors, and combine this with our bottom-up views of the individual real estate companies to search out opportunities that will provide long-term outperformance and which can take advantage of any market anomalies.
Why invest with SWIP?
A major global investor – SWIP is one of Europe's largest asset management companies, with over £146 billion of funds under management (Source: SWIP as at 31 December 2010). These funds are invested across all major asset classes, including property, UK and international equities, bonds and cash.
A highly experienced team – we bring together SWIP’s in-house property expertise with SWIP's European equity team to provide in-depth analyses and valuation stock picking on property securities.
A rigorous investment process – our fund managers carry out detailed, bottom-up analysis of individual assets against a background of wider global economic research. This provides an in-depth understanding and makes sure our funds hold stocks that offer the prospect of long-term outperformance.
Why invest in indirect property?
The opportunity for diversification – depending on the individual fund’s objective, it may be able to spread risk by investing across property markets and between sectors.
Increased liquidity – the introduction of real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the UK has increased the number of available investments in property markets. This helps improve liquidity and allows investors to move money in and out of the asset class quickly, something they could not do when investing directly in property markets.
Flexible asset allocation – investors can hold a core element in a direct property fund and use indirect investment vehicles to vary their property exposure. This gives advisers greater control in deciding asset allocation for their clients.
Tax-efficiencies* – REITs do not pay corporation tax on its ring-fenced business (income and assets held within a property letting business) as long as 90% of the net taxable profit received is distributed to shareholders as dividends. This means that investors only pay tax on dividends and capital gains.
*Tax rules relating to REITs may change.
Past performance is not a guide to future performance. The value of investments can go down as well as up depending on investment performance. You may not get back your original investment. Funds may have holdings which are denominated in different currencies and may be affected by movements in exchange rates. Consequently, the value of your investment may rise or fall in line with exchange rates.
Further details of the risks relating to the SWIP European Real Estate Fund can be found in the Simplified Propectus which must be read before taking any investment decision.