Fund managers need to improve transparency and investors need to make quicker and clearer decisions, according to an informal survey carried out by INREV and presented at its first annual conference.
Real estate investors and fund managers were given a chance to let each other know what they really think with anonymity
guaranteed.
Investors reported that fund managers did not provide enough transparency of information - with surprises often being found in the documentation - and that they would like to see information such as total expense ratios made available to enable them to compare funds. Investors are also very focused on getting the best products – 90% of them agree to meetings with fund managers on the grounds that the product seems right, whereas fund managers believe it is their corporate reputation which attracts investors.
The worst fund managers are described as being arrogant, as droning on and on about past performance and not properly linking their marketing to the product they are promoting.
Fund managers would like investors to make their decisions and the decision-making process more clear. They would also like to see standardised RFPs, a suggestion INREV will look in to.
Both groups were also asked to name the best fund managers and smartest investors operating in Europe. Investors rated ING and AXA as the top investors, with UBS second and JP Morgan, IXIS-AEW, Europa and Carlyle in joint third place. Fund managers agreed that ING was the best of their peers.
Fund managers rated Dutch pension fund PGGM as the top investor, with ATP, MN Services and ABP in joint second place. Looking at their peers, investors rated ATP top, followed by ABP, GIC and PGGM.

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