Managed investments
Owning assets such as property and shares can be time consuming. Some investors lead busy lives and don’t have the time to manage their portfolios, and others prefer to leave the management of their assets to professionals.
If an investor prefers to have their assets managed by a professional, they are able to do so — at a cost. A share investor can buy shares through managed funds, managed investment schemes and listed investment companies, for example. If a property investor prefers a hands-off approach, they commonly invest in property trusts or property syndicates.
Let’s first have a look at property trusts and then move on to property syndicates.
Property trusts
A listed property trust (also known as a real estate investment trust, or REIT), buys property (generally commercial property) and then manages it on behalf of the investors. REITs exist all over the world. I won’t try to discuss all of the different types of REITs around the globe, as there are far too many of them. I will just focus on Australian REITs.
An Australian real estate investment trust (A-REIT), is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). You can buy units in the REIT through the ASX. Units are very similar to shares, except that you buy units in a unit trust and shares ...
