Resilient Property Income Fund, Attfund Limited and Metropolitan Life Properties have scooped up the coveted Investment Property Databank (IPD) Direct Property Investment Awards for 2009 in the retail, office and industrial property sectors.
Revealed annually at the IPD Property Investment Conference awards dinner, the awards showcase superior fund performance and illustrate the fundamental value of investing in commercial property.
To win, funds must record the highest annualised total return over a three-year period on their ungeared direct property portfolios in retail, office and industrial property.
Resilient Property Income Fund won in the retail sector with a 21.2% return; Attfund Limited came first in the office sector with a 26.9% return; and Metropolitan Life Properties posted a 30.6% return to win in the industrial sector.
“IPD provides the underlying calculations on which the results are based,” says IPD SA managing director Stan Garrun.
“We believe good data has a positive impact on valuations and investment performance. High standards and transparency are the cornerstones of good governance, and IPD’s information has enabled the analysis of property with the same techniques and rigour as are applied to equities and other financial assets.”
The funds included in the overall IPD universe are listed and unlisted property funds representing some 61% of professionally-managed property in South Africa. IPD covers about 66% of the capital value of the Property Unit Trusts (PUTs) and Property Loan Stocks (PLSs) listed on the JSE Securities Exchange.
The awards are sponsored by Nedbank Corporate Property Finance. Frank Berkeley, managing executive of Nedbank Corporate Property Finance, believes the awards are vital to ensure that the funds that consistently deliver superior market returns are publicly recognised.
“This important benchmark for the industry is becoming more and more valuable. This year, for the first time unlisted property funds have been considered for the awards, which we believe indicates a growing transparency across the property sector, an increasing appreciation of good data and a willingness to be counted,” says Berkeley.
