Directly-held industrial property needs extra care and is as prone to new trends and changing demographics as the office or retail sectors, says Roger Perkin, asset manager of Marriott Property Fund (Martprop).Perkin said to Business Day that the performance of listed property vehicles against directly- held property continues to highlight the need for experience and skill in assembling and managing a portfolio.

SA's R8bn listed property market is poised to see prolific growth in the next few years if it continues to follow Australian market trends.

CORONATION Property Equity Fund has chosen to limit new investment in its fund to R400m because of the limited choice offered by the listed property sector of the JSE Securities Exchange SA.

Listed-property expert and head of Catalyst Gauteng operations Harry Boonzaaier has again discredited the popular view that high gearing was good for shareholder value in property investment vehicles.

Trends in Listed Property

Institutional investment property exposure in the recent past has generally been reduced largely owing to the relaxation of exchange controls and the move from defined benefit to defined contribution pension funds, in turn prompting greater liquidity and choice of investment. With property exposure tending to have deceased in the 1990’s, innovations in property securitisation have subsequently greatly promoted liquidity.