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Published on April 4, 2008

"With 18 property funds worth more than Bt60 billion in the market, it's about time a new trading category was created for property funds," he said, referring to a stand-alone section like the one for warrants.

Something like it has already surfaced once. On the very first day the SET launched its new website earlier this year, investors may have noticed a new section devoted to property funds. According to tradition, it should have been included in the main board's real-estate and property-development sector. The new classification quickly disappeared.

Maris said the new set-up would help the flow of information for investors and ease the approval process for property funds as far as it applied to operations.

"In Singapore [where real-estate investment trusts are traded on the Singapore Exchange as securities along with warrants and derivatives], they are already having fun trading," Maris said. ING Funds will soon be managing Thailand's largest property fund. The Bt30-billion Bangkok Skytrain Extension Fund, which has recently been finalised, is now looking for financial advisers.

Agreement has also been reached between the Nerula family, who owns the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, and ING Funds to put the hotel into a property fund. If it is added to the Quality Hospitality Leasehold Property Fund, the fund's value will increase to Bt7 billion.

Maris said property funds, including both freehold and leasehold property funds, had an average return of 9 per cent last year.

Liquidity and trading volume will improve in accordance with the size of the funds. At present, it is not at all difficult for a retail investor to sell Bt100,000 worth of property-fund units, he said.

Ki Nan Tsui

The Nation