Aviva Investors proposes closure of global REIT business

Aviva Investors has proposed the closure of its Global Listed Real Estate Securities business, including the Global REIT fund run by Paul Van De Vaart, as it has "insufficient scale".

The group has placed all funds in the business under review, according to a note to clients, and said it is likely that desks in New York and London will be closed. However, Aviva also said it was re-focusing its efforts in Asia and the real estate team there will be maintained. The letter, written by investment sales manager John Palmer, said: "In light of the level of competition, we consider our current global listed securities business to have insufficient scale. It is therefore unable to compete effectively in standalone pure alpha global strategies. "Though this is subject to...