This response is provided on behalf of the Association of Professional Fund Investors after having consulted members and Professional Fund Investors (‘PFIs’). The following details APFI’s final response to the Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’) consultation paper, relating to property and illiquid funds, with responses due by 8 May 2017.
The FCA discussion paper DP17/1, in February 2017 the FCA highlighted recent price and gating actions by property funds following the EU Referendum, and sought industry views on the use and practices around the use of property funds and other funds invested in non-daily tradable asset classes, particularly by funds (including unit-linked) that are themselves daily traded. “This paper considers some of the risks created when consumers use open-ended investment funds to gain exposure to assets that may be difficult for the fund manager to buy, sell, or value quickly. In this paper we refer to these assets as ‘illiquid assets’: they may include land and buildings, infrastructure, and financial assets such as unlisted securities.” 1.1, Page 5, DP17/1.
The Association of Professional Fund Investors (APFI) welcomes the FCA examining this area of great interest on behalf of fund buyers and customers. The APFI supports greater transparency relating to the liquidity and trading practices of fund management and how they impact customer outcomes.”
Following the EU Referendum and series of actions by property fund providers, and following engagement with the Association of Real Estate Funds (AREF) directly, the APFI issued the following press release.
Read the full response here.