In early July we took the difficult decision to suspend all recommended ratings on directly invested property strategies within the Academy of Funds. This was largely based on market conditions within the UK commercial property market in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote. We have continued to monitor the situation very closely over the past few months and are now satisfied that these conditions, whilst perhaps not easy, have somewhat normalised.

Therefore we have lifted our blanket suspension and are now in a position to revert back to our normal practice of considering recommendations on an individual fund basis.

The Henderson UK Property PAIF and Standard Life Investments UK Real Estate strategies re-opened on the 14th and 17th of October, respectively. The groups have reported that although outflows were seen following the re-openings, they were not as high as initially anticipated. Both funds will retain a higher than average cash balance (in the region of 20%) for the time being in order to maintain a healthy level of liquidity.

As a result of the successful re-opening of both funds we are pleased to announce the reinstatement of our recommended ratings for Henderson UK Property PAIF and Standard Life Investments UK Real Estate.