Good morning,

Street Talk understands North American investment giant Invesco is the latest in a string of real estate managers to limit fund redemptions down under.

An investor letter seen by this column shows a “notice of withdrawal gating” for the $41 million Invesco Global Real Estate Fund – Class A in late August citing a wave of redemptions. The fund feeds into the $31.9 billion global strategy. “As of 30 August 2023, we advise that redemptions have exceeded 15 per cent of the fund’s assets over a rolling 90-day period … redemption requests received after this date will be temporarily deferred and placed in a queue until satisfied.”

The fund, launched in 2019, is exposed to more than 200 properties in major cities around the world across office, residential, industrial and retail. Locally, it holds interest in 77 King Street in Sydney, home to Apple’s flagship retail store.

Performance for the year to July 31 has been in the red.

This is an extraordinary step for any fund to take but Invesco is far from alone. This year, Charter Hall has limited redemptions in its $2.5 billion unlisted office fund to just 25 per cent. It joins the likes of Blackstone, KKR and MA Financial’s Redcape in curbing withdrawals from unlisted property funds as investors make a beeline for the exit.

All this comes amid a reckoning in the commercial property sector as rising rates and the work-from-home trend crunch valuations. Invesco assured investors that it had “sufficient liquidity” to satisfy redemptions to date. It blamed the elevated redemptions on investors rebalancing their portfolios “given market and macroeconomic volatility, deleveraging and/or satisfying collateral calls”.

It’s a worrying sign, but it’s got nothing on Platinum Asset Management which announced investors pulled $912 million from its funds in August.

Happy reading,

• AI boom: Telstra preps binding offer for cloud transformation and consulting group Versent.
• Big lick of Liontown shares trade amid takeover, with plenty suggesting it is connected with Gina Rinehart.
• KKR deal makers fasten their seat belts for Queensland Airports bid.
• Allier Capital shops HR software business Tambla.
• UBS veteran Chris Scott exits the business after 26-years.
• Capital raises: Audinate $50 million, AMA Group $55 million, Eroad $50 million.

• IFM’s private equity unit splashes $80 million on software firm Tally Group, writes Aaron Weinman.
• French billionaire Francois Pinault’s family investment company agreed to buy a majority stake in the Hollywood talent giant Creative Artists Agency from TPG Capital, The Wall Street Journal reports.
• KPMG’s US partners have been told that they will be put on 50 per cent pay during six months of gardening leave if they quit to join a rival, The Financial Times reports.

Liontown’s big dream is to finish the $895 million Kathleen Valley lithium mine, on track to start producing in 2024.

Click here for the latest equity market wrap.