Pan European property equities had a torrid month with our benchmark, FTSE EPRA Nareit Developed Europe (total returns, in sterling terms) falling -6.1%. Continental Europe fared even worse, returning -7.7% (in euro terms). The Trust’s net asset value total return was slightly better, falling -5.3% and the share price fell 3%.
For equities, this was a volatile month of two halves. Given escalation of the war in Ukraine, the property benchmark declined -8.2% in sterling terms through 7th March. The benchmark then rebounded by +11.4% over the following three weeks. The Trust’s net asset value (NAV) gained +2.9% and outperformed the benchmark by +0.66%.
In summary, over February, investor sentiment was driven by macroeconomic events alongside a handful of corporate events (within our small real estate world). The second half of February was, clearly, dominated by the tragedy unfolding in Ukraine. This historical and terrible geo-political event essentially added huge uncertainty to the backdrop of inflation-averse central bank behaviour.… Read More »
Real estate stocks were not immune from the weakness in global equities as the new year got underway. The expectation of US Federal Reserve policy tightening has now become a reality. This news was coupled with firm indications that the world’s most important central bank is not concerned about short term (downward) adjustments to risk… Read More »
December brought a strong end to the calendar year with the net asset value (NAV) rising +1.8%, while the benchmark rose 0.6%. The share price gained 2.7% over the month, which brought the share price total return for the year to 23.5%; this reflects both the 18.6% growth in the NAV over 12 months and… Read More »