Is it time to seek out value and dispose of property assets?

Eight years since the crisis and following what promises to be a fraught EU referendum, it is appropriate to have a property portfolio with similar risk characteristics to that of a bond portfolio? Steven Grahame, manager of the North Row Capital Liquid Property fund, provides an analysis of the sector's current prospects.

While there are reams of commentary on the Leave and Remain referendum campaigns, investors need to think beyond either outcome to ensure that they have an appropriate asset allocation. This is particularly true in regard of commercial property, where the illiquidity of physical assets and costs of transacting mean that, on average, investment terms of at least eight years are necessary. For many active investors, the 2008 financial crisis was the last time they reconsidered their property asset allocation. However, over the eight years since, property yields have fallen and capital v...