British insurer Aviva is to announce a near halving in the cash position of its £3.2 bn (EUR 4.4 bn) property fund as investors continue to call for redemptions, newspaper the Telegraph reported on Friday. Aviva's property fund management arm Morley is to announce that it now has just 7.5% of the fund in cash and shares, compared with 18% three months ago. Morley will start publishing fortnightly valuations in an effort to keep pace with the high level of redemptions and rapid fall in property values.

British insurer Aviva is to announce a near halving in the cash position of its £3.2 bn (EUR 4.4 bn) property fund as investors continue to call for redemptions, newspaper the Telegraph reported on Friday. Aviva's property fund management arm Morley is to announce that it now has just 7.5% of the fund in cash and shares, compared with 18% three months ago. Morley will start publishing fortnightly valuations in an effort to keep pace with the high level of redemptions and rapid fall in property values.

Earlier this week, New Star's UK Property Trust announced it has cut the value of its flagship UK property fund by 8.2%, taking the total reduction since July to 17.8%. The move followed the news last week that several open-ended funds have imposed redemption limits on investors as property values continue to fall. New Star, which attributed the move to the 'adverse shift in sentiment towards commercial property', asked real estate agent CB Richard Ellis to value the portfolio fortnightly instead of monthly until the property market returns to a more stable state.