‘Panic’ Brexit withdrawals freeze US$23bil property funds

To let signs advertising office spaces sit on the exterior of commercial buildings in London, U.K, on Wednesday, July 6, 2016. Three asset managers froze withdrawals from real-estate funds following a flurry of redemptions and the pound plunged to a 31-year low less than two weeks since the nation backed quitting the European Union. Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

LONDON: UK property funds with about £18bil (US$23.4bil) of assets froze withdrawals as investors sought to dump real estate holdings in the aftermath of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.

“It’s reminiscent of Bear Stearns’ subprime funds before the Lehman debacle,” Bill Gross, a fund manager at Janus Capital Group Inc, said on Bloomberg TV. “The system doesn’t allow liquidity to flow into the proper places.