Standard Life Investments reopens £2.6bn UK property fund

SLI said asset sales had since helped bolster the fund’s liquidity amid a broader market recovery.

The fund was just one of several to be suspended by firm trading in the weeks after the UK’s vote to leave the European Union and the commercial property market began to look vulnerable.

Aberdeen Asset Management suspended trading in its £3.2 billion property fund in the immediate aftermath of the vote for one week.

With retail investors asking for their money back in increasing numbers, SLI decided to cease trading on the fund on July 4 citing an “unprecedented level of redemptions”.

The firm said yesterday the decision to halt dealings temporarily was taken in order to protect the interests of all investors and it has since sold a number of properties to help it raise sufficient cash to meet the investor demands to redeem.

“We now believe the commercial real estate market has stabilised and that the adequate level of liquidity achieved will allow the suspension to be lifted,” it said in a statement.

SLI, which has 269 billion pounds in assets under management, invests 18.7 billion pounds across its direct real estate, public listed real estate and real estate debt funds.