Thursday 1 March 2018

Real estate funds in Germany

Okay, okay, dear reader(s), I promised you some financial news, didn't I? 'Did you, boss?' Yes, Voice, I'm sure I did, yesterday, while I was wittering on about samurai. 'Oh, okay.' Yeah. Anyway, it's German news, a German PR email, which is all right. I am the world's foremost financial shaman, after all.

German open-ended real estate funds hit a record 89.2bn EUR in assets under management, as higher yields relative to other investment options continued to draw investor interest. But managing fund liquidity will be an ongoing challenge for fund providers.

A challenge? Why?

Open-ended real estate funds are popular with German retail investors. Capital inflows into active funds amounted to almost 6.7bn EUR in 2017. Buoyant interest prompted the launch of four new funds last year generating aggregate inflows of 937m EUR, as fund returns averaging 2.8% continued to offer outperformance relative to fixed-term deposits or high-quality bonds.

Oh, okay. They don't want to tell us.

As a sector, open-ended real-estate funds have a liquidity cushion of 17.5bn EUR. Keeping liquidity ratios at the right level remains a critical challenge for fund managers. If liquidity falls too much, funds can close. If it increases too sharply, it adversely affects performance as it doesn't earn any interest.

Oh, I see. It's all about liquidity cushions and that. It must be a challenge filling them. 'Liquidity cushions? What are they, boss?' Christ! Don't you know, man?! They're cushions that are pumped full of liquid, like waterbeds. 'Oh.' Apparently, they're very comfortable. Stressed-out and knackered fund managers use them. If they want a rest, they just have a quick fifteen-minute nap under their desk with a cushion. 'A power nap.' Yes, a power nap. Then they can get back to work, fully refreshed.

Well, there's a lot more of this email, but I think we have a basic understanding of it now. / Scope Analysis, by the way -

Scope Analysis GmbH, based in Berlin, is a part of the Scope Group. The company specializes in the analysis and rating of asset management companies and certificate issuers, as well as mutual funds and alternative investment funds in the areas of real estate, shipping, aviation, renewable energies and infrastructure. Scope Analysis offers opinion-driven and forward-looking analyses.

All right. Thanks, guys!

...

Anything else? Brexit? Another thought. (I keep having thoughts.) Once we're a small country on our own, America and China will storm in and buy everything - the NHS, etc - at fire-sale prices. We'll be owned by those two countries. Is that better than being a partner with twenty-seven other European nations?

Everything seems to be falling apart. (Look at Maplin and Toys R Us yesterday!) I don't like to be negative, man, but ... 'It's just reality, ain't it, Mikey?' Yes, Voice. / Frankly, there is no cake. And there are no fucking unicorns charging over the horizon. We're in shit. Deep shit.

Anyway, reader(s) ... have a nice weekend, yeah?