Spain 
Italy 
Greece 
Redemptions from Real Estate Funds Will Be Permitted Every Two Months, Down from Six
16 July 2018
Starting next month, people who decide to invest in real estate investment funds will only have to wait two months before making any redemptions instead of having their money locked-in for half a year. Redemption periods for money invested in real estate funds will be reduced, part of a planned series of alterations to regulations covering fund redemptions, which were initially introduced three years ago.
Before then, “most funds had daily subscriptions and redemptions, and others could set the frequency as they saw fit” Pedro Coelho, who manages CA Património Crescente, said, as quoted by the Jornal de Negócios.
The executive believes that the current decrease in redemption times is positive since the imposition of obstacles can make investment products less attractive.
CMVM to revise fund regulations
The Securities Market Commission (CMVM) intends to concentrate the different regulations covering the Collective Investment Agencies (Securities and Real Estate) and Marketing of Open Access Funds of Individual Membership into a single document.
The regulator intends to adapt the regulations to the changes that will are being implemented through the transposition of the new directive, as well as increasing transparency and customer communication rules at the level of the variable management commissions.
Management companies will only be able to charge this fee, for example, “after the effective quantification of the respective amount, without prejudice to their periodic recognition in the collective investment company’s assets”, according to the document that the CMVM opened to public consultation.
Earnings of 4%
The recovery in the real estate market has allowed gains in this type of product. Within the last year, real estate investment funds attracted more than 26,000 new investors.
Open income funds have yielded an average yield of 3.94% over the last 12 months, according to the most recent data from the Portuguese Association of Investment, Pension and Wealth Management Funds (APFIPP) for May, quoted recently by Diário de Notícias.
In the category of open-end accumulation funds, the average return stood at 2.49%. Despite this recovery, the accumulated return for the last three years was almost zero.
Original Story: Idealista
Translation: Richard Turner