Property push could be a wrong move

Last week's statistics from the Investment Managers' Association, which saw property funds attract the largest allocations, are as clear an indication as you could wish for that investors have now largely moved away from fear and are ready to embrace risk once again.

With £367.6m of retail funds going into property in October, it seems property funds are viewed as the most palatable form of that risk. Investors and advisers now clearly see value in the sector, which was hardest hit in the downturn. Part of this shift could simply be a vindication of what has been a long and concerted marketing and media campaign by property funds over the past three months. They have had a good story to tell, as global economies have stabilised and those with cash have surveyed a landscape that included properties with some very cheap-looking valuations. Managers ...