This additional Badger Blog is to detail an excellent meeting with the TR Property Fund Manager in London on Monday.
The LWM Portfolios include the TR Property Trust which has had a stellar last month rising by circa 7%.
The fund manager manager Marcus Phayre-Mudge kindly gave an hour of his time to answer questions in a one to one meeting.
The main take aways from the meeting were:
- Top European Property Companies able to raise finance easily and at sub 2% rates
- European Insurance Companies are financing baskets of quality property which is a welcome return to the market
- As Euro property rents are generally index linked they are proving attractive investments when compared to bonds and sovereign debt
- Inflation is a concern but Property (especially if rents indexed) are a great hedge and do well in such an environment
- Value for UK investors in Euro Property Stocks due to rise in pound against euro
- Looking to invest in companies with a debt to asset ratio no higher than 35 – 40% maximum
- Looking to increase funds exposure to Germany, the REIT market is only two years old but better able to invest now than previously
- Dividend on main fund 4% plus and looking to increase it
In addition we discussed the TR Sigma Fund which is the sub £1 billion Property Company investment vehicle.
Marcus was extremely bullish on the fund and remarked that a 25% discount to Nav currently is totally unjustified given the high quality of the investments (75% of the portfolio is the same as the main fund) and he himself is a buyer of the shares.
The source of information in this note has been provided by TR and is correct as at 10 September 2013. These are notes from discussions with TR and should not be seen as a recommendation to purchase this fund. Any reference to shares is not a recommendation to buy or sell. Should you wish to make a decision based on these notes we cannot take responsibility for this and you should carry out your own research before making a decision. You should also note that past performance is not a reliable indicator of future returns and the value of your investments can fall as well as rise.