Colonial forces property fund RE change
Principal Real Estate Investors (Australia) has replaced Lend Lease as the responsible entity of the soon to beMorgan Stanley-owned Lend Lease US Office Trust (LUO) following an extraordinary meeting of unit holders in Sydney last week.
The proposal was put forward by the trust’s largest stakeholder with 22 per cent,Colonial First State Investments, which confirmed it held discussions with “all relevant entities” prior to the meeting on November 14 regarding its concern over LUO’s sale to Morgan Stanley.
Colonial had been vociferous in urging other stakeholders to vote in favour of removing Lend Lease as responsible entity and replacing it with Principal Real Estate Investors (Australia).
The major stakeholders in the US office trust includeUBS Global Asset Management(8.8 per cent),Barclays Global Investors(6.6 per cent),BT Financial Group(5.6 per cent) andAMP Henderson Global Investors(5 per cent).
LUO is an Australian Stock Exchange listed property trust, which owns approximately US$ 900 million in U.S. office assets
“We are committed to delivering stability, excellent investment performance, and growth to the unit holders of the trust, and we look forward to working with Lend Lease to ensure a smooth transition,” Principal Real Estate Investors chairman Greg Hauser says.
Recommended for you
Clime Investment Management has welcomed an independent director to its board, which follows a series of recent appointments at the company.
Ethical investment manager Australian Ethical has cited the ongoing challenging market environment for its modest decrease in assets over the latest quarter.
Commentators have said Australian fund managers are less knowledgeable compared with overseas peers when it comes to expanding their range with ETFs and underestimating the competition from passive strategies.
VanEck is to list two ETFs on the ASX next week, one investing in residential mortgage-backed securities and the other in Indian companies.
