Asset Allocator was recently released into the community recently for a little holiday, a gathering which brought people from the four corners of England to a converted barn in Norfolk.
And of course the topic of property prices and the very different abilities to work from home was discussed over the supermarket value brand sparkling wine and Twiglets (other crisps are available, but we had to choose one).
That those experiences were so radically different, with prices and demand for commercial and residential property holding up better in parts of the country a long way from London, serves only to highlight the radical uncertainty faced by those who wish to allocate to the property sector.
Our database shows no radical change in allocations to property and infrastructure in balanced portfolios throughout 2022, with exposures averaging within the 5 per cent range.
The biggest outlier at the start of January was Hawksmoor, with 14 per cent in the asset class, followed by Abrdn at 10 per cent.
Several firms had zero allocated there, including Psigma, Morningstar and Quilter's WealthSelect range.
There is a massive dispersion among the direct property and infrastructure funds used by DFMs, with little to no consensus. A total of 36 funds are used by one DFM or another.
In fact the most widely-owned physical infrastructure funds among the allocators are only held by three DFMs: Renewables Infrastructure Group and BBGI.
The most widely-owned property funds are LXI Reit and CT UK Property - each owned by two DFMs.
