FTSE property fund launch delayed

13 June 2012 | By Rob Langston

The fund, to be managed by MSS Property Funds Management, the parent company of MSS Real Estate, had been set to close to subscriptions on May 31.

Mark Ellis, the chief executive of MSS, said: “We had a bunch of people not able to meet the deadline we set [for subscriptions] at the end of May.”

Ellis says several overseas invest­ors have shown interest in taking part in the launch. He adds that it was important to attract investors during the first round of fundraising to gain “critical mass”.

MSS subsidiary MSS Real Estate will act as investment advisers. MSS Real Estate acts as index adviser for the FTSE UK Commercial Property Index series. (article continues below)

The fund, which will track the FTSE All UK Property index, was licensed by FTSE to MSS Real Estate. It had initially set a fundraising target of £50m. However, the directors, invest­ment manager and book­runner, Jefferies Hoare Govett, can decide not to go ahead with the launch if gross proceeds would be less than £50m.

The fund would invest in a port­folio of open-ended property funds, unlisted closed-end fixed-term property funds, Real Estate Investment Trusts (Reits) including exchange-traded funds and cash.

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