How do the smaller property funds of a few billion or ten billion forints differ from their larger counterparts of fifty or even several hundred billion forints? Are they more flexible, more filled up with properties and thus offer higher yields? Not necessarily.
Looking at the past year, we find mostly smaller funds (Mag, Access) at the top of the yield list, but they can also be found near the end of the list. If we look back further to the last two, three or five years, then on general larger funds can be said to have brought higher yields than smaller ones, although there are exceptions here as well, and it is also true that the further back we go, the smaller the sample gets, so fewer and fewer funds can be compared. (The Futureal 1 fund most be disregarded completely, since it serves only the special needs of its few owners and is thus not a real market player.)
Last month we looked at the various properties large funds focus on depending on their priorities, now we should also take a look at the portfolios of smaller funds. One of the oldest players, Reálszisztéma, had 75 percent of its four billion assets tied down in real estate, mostly offices, land and commercial units in Budapest. Although the latest annual report did not mention this, earlier reports indicate that some of the properties are the various buildings used by the group of the same name.
The Mag fund of the Macrogamma Fund Manager invested primarily in retail units, as well as a smaller hotel. Interesting to note is that the fund has an exceptionally high, 102 percent property ratio, which is possible likely through leverage. (Large funds have a property ratio of mostly under 60 percent). Access Property primarily invests in industrial warehouse sites, offices and land, and had a property ratio of 77 percent recently. Its manager calls Biggeorge's 4 a "project development fund," which means that it deals with the planning, permitting and preparation of property projects, and purchases the necessary land for these projects. Its property ratio was also around 75 percent in April.
The Firstfund Property fund is the youngest market player, which was launched in December, and therefore it is no surprise that it included only two properties at the end of April, which accounted for around a quarter of the fund's capital. One of the properties is a real estate in Balatonlelle, and the other is whole or part of the Hattyú Park residential park in Kispest. Quaestor's First Domestic Home Fund is now only quasi-open, and is not recommended for small investors. It contains many development plots, mostly earmarked for residential projects.
