Henderson Global Investors will convert its £2bn UK Property unit trust into an open-ended investment company (Oeic) after obtaining unitholder approval.
A unit trust quotes a bid and a offer price and is governed by trust law, while an Oeic quotes just a single price and is governed by company law.
The unit trust will change structure at the end of August and will be renamed the Henderson UK Property Oeic.
This change is the first step in the process of changing the fund into a tax-friendly property authorised investment fund (Paif).
A Paif is exempt from corporation tax on income and gains arising from investment in real property, shares in UK real estate investment trusts (Reits) and shares in certain foreign entities that are equivalent to Reits.
Henderson will pay the administrative costs for the conversion.
The fund is managed by Marcus Langlands Pearse and Ainslie McLennan. It has returned 10.4 per cent this year to the end of June, according to the fund’s factsheet, while the IMA Property sector has retuned 7.3 per cent in the same period.
The transformation will also mean the Property fund will payout quarterly instead of bi-annually.
