By Carolyn Cohn and Simon Jessop
LONDON (Reuters) - Three fund managers said on Thursday they had cut the value of their UK property funds and a fourth extended a 24-hour trading suspension, as the industry seeks to stem a tide of redemption requests since Britain's vote to leave the European Union.
A slump in the value of the pound and volatile stock markets since the referendum last month have unnerved investors who are worried that the uncertainty will slow down business investment in Britain and hit demand to rent and buy commercial property.
More than 18 billion pounds of retail investor cash has been frozen in the last week as funds run by M&G Investments, Standard Life (LON:SL) Investments and Threadneedle Investments, among others, suspended trading to allow time to sell some of the buildings, a process which can take many months.
The move to cut the value of a fund is a less extreme method of controlling redemptions, as it effectively forces those looking to leave to accept a lower price than was established the last time the property portfolio was valued.
Two UK property funds aimed at retail investors, managed by Legal & General Investment Management and F&C, said they made a cut in the value of their funds, by 10 percent and five percent respectively.
Retail funds, including all seven which this week have suspended trading, normally allow investors to take out their cash daily.
Several firms which operate funds aimed at institutional investors told Reuters they had made no changes, and had seen little redemption demand from investors. These funds typically only allow redemptions on a monthly or quarterly basis.
However, institutional investment manager CCLA, which invests money for a range of charities, religious groups and the public sector, also said it had cut the value of its funds since the Brexit vote, by 4.5 percent.
"We felt that the...adjustment was an appropriate and proportionate response to the heightened risk of uncertainty, but not more than that," CCLA's chief investment officer James Bevan told Reuters.
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This follows a decision by BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, to increase the redemption charges on its 3.3 billion sterling UK Property Fund, also aimed at institutional investors, at its end-June redemption period.
Legal & General Investment Management, the fund arm of insurer Legal & General (L:LGEN), said it had cut the value of its 2.3 billion pounds ($2.99 billion) UK Property Fund by a further 10 percent, after a previous 5 percent valuation cut.
F&C, part of the fund arm of Bank of Montreal (TO:BMO), said it had cut the value of its 305 million pound UK Property Fund by 5 percent as part of a move to fair value pricing.
Aberdeen Asset Management, which on Wednesday suspended trading in its 3.2 billion pound UK property fund for 24 hours and cut the value by 17 percent, on Thursday extended the suspension until next Monday.
"Investors who placed trades yesterday have asked for more time to consider whether to withdraw their redemptions," Aberdeen chief executive Martin Gilbert said in a statement.
However, listed real estate funds rose on Wednesday after recent sharp falls.
At 1336 GMT, Standard Life's listed real estate fund (L:SLI) was up 2.93 percent, while F&C Commercial Property Trust (L:FCPTL) rose 4.3 percent and the Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust (L:SREI) climbed 5.7 percent.
Long-term players said they may look to snap up bargains.
"There may...be opportunities to add to property exposure at lower prices over the next few quarters, once we have clarity on the effectiveness of easier domestic policy and some kind of political resolution to the current impasse over the UK's relationship with Europe," said Trevor Greetham, head of multi-asset at Royal London Asset Management.
($1 = 0.7704 pounds)