Fund redemptions batter Invista's assets

By Simon Packard  |   2008-12-15  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

INVISTA Real Estate Investment Management Holdings Plc, the real-estate manager controlled by HBOS Plc, said its assets under management fell 15 percent in five months because of fund redemptions and lower property values.

Total assets under management fell to 6.74 billion pounds (US$10 billion) by November 30 from 7.98 billion pounds at the end of June, the London-based company said in a statement on Friday. Investors withdrew 377 million pounds from Invista's open-ended funds in the first 11 months, according to a company statement.

"Invista is not anticipating earning any further performance fees in the second half of 2008," the company said.

Invista, the United Kingdom's largest publicly traded real-estate asset management company, said full-year results, to be released in February, will be "in line" with its forecasts.

The asset manager also said it's in talks with unnamed "third parties" after difficulties in refinancing a 142-million-euro (US$189 million) loan for its French real-estate entity Celsius, a venture with Propinvest Group Ltd, Bloomberg News reported.

The lender was Kaupthing Bank hf and the loan expires at the year-end.

Invista declined 4.75 pence, or 13 percent, to 32 pence in London trading. That lowered the value of the company to 84.7 million pounds.