Wellian's Philbin criticises property funds over 'disruptive' move to bid pricing

Proposes alternative system to combat illiquidity

Wellian Investment Solutions' CIO Richard Philbin has criticised the move by several providers earlier this month to switch to bid pricing on their property funds, saying it is likely to disrupt inflows and damage investor confidence.

Philbin (pictured) said he would prefer to see a system where property funds remain at their natural price and anyone who redeems would recieve the bid price. His comments come after M&G, Henderson and Columbia Threadneedle all changed the pricing structure on their property funds from an offer to a bid basis earlier this month, while Standard Life Investments moved from offer to mid and Aberdeen shifted from mid to bid. 'The right move to make': Buyers support pricing switch on property funds The reasons cited by these fund houses included protecting existing investors amid a peri...