Most claimed they were not at all informed (17%) or not very well informed (50%).
This is according to the latest wave of independent research, commissioned for Reita (www.reita.org), the educational and awareness campaign for REITs and quoted property investment. 241 UK based financial advisers took part in the study, which was conducted by NMG Research throughout May 2008.
Property Authorised Investment Funds (PAIFs) were launched on April 6th this year. Like a REIT, a PAIF is a tax-free property investment vehicle whereby tax is not levied on property income in the vehicle itself, but on the end investor - thereby offering, for the first time, tax efficient investment in property for exempt investors via an AIF.
As Reita said: “From an adviser perspective, PAIFs appear to offer all the advantages of REITs and in a familiar open-ended structure that, unlike direct UK REITs, most advisers are able to advise clients on PAIFs. The fact that so few advisers are informed about PAIFs is perhaps not a surprise given how new they are at this stage, but it is vital that the industry works together to educate advisers further about the benefits they offer. PAIFs will be one of our key educational themes for 2008 / 9 so that advisers are ready for them as the market picks up again and we see both the conversion of existing funds to PAIFs and the launch of new PAIFs perhaps intended as vehicles for holding shares in REITs.”
