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AIMS Property Securities Fund, which is listed in both Singapore and Australia, plans to invest in commercial properties Down Under over the next few years, according to AIMS Fund Management Chairman George Wang in a letter sent to unitholders on Friday (14 Dec).
“The fund is currently strategically positioned to take advantage of a downturn in the Australian commercial real estate market, which has begun to show signs of weakening. The bank’s tightening of lending will also play a large role in the downturn of the commercial real estate market.
“We expect the next few years to present exceptional investment opportunities for the fund, which meet our long-term capital growth strategy.”
In the letter, Wang thanked unitholders for not approving a proposal during a meeting on 10 December to windup the fund and return the fund’s net proceeds to unitholders.
The latest attempted liquidation of the fund was initiated by investment firms Sandon Capital and Samuel Terry Asset Management, which hold a combined stake of about 18.6 percent in the fund. In January last year, Samuel Terry also made a similar attempt but failed.
“Every time activist unitholders attempt to windup our fund, it consumes immense amounts of labour and cash resources, which would be better spent on gaining returns for all our unitholders,” explained Wang.
“Every windup attempt costs the fund and our unitholders a few hundred thousand dollars, which I personally feel is very painful and unfair. They are trying to take advantage of all our unitholders’ long-term benefits for their own short-term goals.”
In October, the Business Times reported that Samuel Terry and Sandon Capital called for the latest failed liquidation after alleging that the fund had earmarked unitholder funds for investment products overseen by AIMS Capital Management “in order to maximise the fees payable to AIMS”.
Investments related to AIMS in the fund’s portfolio include Singapore-listed AIMS AMP Capital Industrial REIT and unlisted AIMS Real Estate Opportunity Fund, along with unlisted AIMS property funds that own office blocks in Brisbane’s Felix Street and in St Kilda Road, Melbourne, as well as an industrial property at Laverton North on the fringe of Melbourne.
“It is these fees – the quantum of which is unclear because (the fund) refuses to disclose them – that are largely responsible for the fund continually trading well below its net asset value (NAV),” said the two unitholders.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
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