If it’s not too late, a Happy New Year to everyone. Best wishes for a prosperous 2024.
I covered AREF’s current policy priorities for this year in our Vision 2024 event but I thought it would be useful to outline them here too.
The General Election
In an election year, one of the most valuable roles that AREF can play is to influence the policies of both major parties. Doubtless our major members will be seeking to do this too.
We will therefore be working with members and other trade associations to coordinate increased engagement activity.
Retail funds and liquidity
Retail real estate funds have come back onto the FCA’s agenda for 2024, and our Retail Funds Committee is already in dialogue with them. We will continue this engagement throughout the year.
DC investment
Operational obstacles continue to limit the ability of the growing DC pension fund sector to invest in unlisted assets, including real estate. This lack of investment into “productive assets” is a concern for both parties, and I believe that the disappointing uptake of the Long Term Asset Fund has re-focussed the attention of government and regulators on the fact that the obstacles are not regulatory, but operational, and they need ot be addressed as such. to Continuing platforms, PFWG
Overseas investment
Up until now AREF has been focussing on DC investment as an important source of capital for our sector. The other major source is overseas capital. We will be developing relationships with appropriate parts of Government in order to address some of the regulatory and other barriers to investment from overseas into UK property.
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