Property

F&C is in discussions with the IMA to add its Real Estate Securities and Real Estate Equity Long/Short funds to the IMA Property and Absolute Return sectors sectors respectively.

Murdoch Asset Management director Tony Dunne tells Julia Rampen why he prefers Mark Barnett to Neil Woodford, what opportunities he sees in student accommodation and why he is steering clear of the rally in Japan.

With banks offloading assets and the Spanish stock market on the up over the past 18 months, some see now as a good time to invest in one of the biggest losers of the eurozone crisis.

Property fund managers are assessing ways to mitigate the potential impact of soaring inflows as the sector becomes increasingly popular with investors.

The latest sales figures from the IMA show property was the bestselling sector in May, but Charles Stanley Direct's head of investment research Ben Yearsley said many investors are piling in too late and have missed the rally in the asset class.

Positive economic news in the US and the continuing recovery in the UK have pushed equity valuations near to peak levels. So where can investors turn for protection in case markets fall from here?

Property funds have topped the latest sales charts from the Investment Management Association (IMA), with retail investors pumping a net £491m into the asset class in May.

Liberty Living, a subsidiary of troubled student property fund Brandeaux, has pulled a planned £400m IPO less than a month after announcing it.

Aviva Investors has raised its annual forecast for returns from commercial property to 8.9% over the next five years, despite the threat interest rates may rise as early as this year.

The HC Mansion UK Student Accommodation Income & Growth fund has deferred redemptions as it becomes the latest fund in the sector to suffer liquidity problems.