Is legalsuper invested in the Centro listed property trust?

Recent press regarding Centro Properties Group (‘Centro’) has lead to a small number of members calling to enquire whether legalsuper is invested in Centro’s listed property trusts. 

Firstly, legalsuper has no direct exposure to the Centro listed property trust.

legalsuper’s property allocation is solely by way of Australian unlisted property trusts.  The value of unlisted property trusts are periodically determined by independent property valuers, not movements in the stock market.  Unlisted property trusts also have lower levels of gearing.

There is some scope for legalsuper to be indirectly exposed to listed property trusts via its Australian equity managers.  These managers invest in ASX300 shares (i.e. the top 300 Australian public companies) some of which include listed property trusts.  However, the configuration of legalsuper’s Australian equity managers has a value bias which has resulted in legalsuper being significantly underweight in listed property trusts.

legalsuper’s default ‘moderate’ investment option has delivered double digit returns in each of the last four financial years, however, it is important to remember that super is a long term investment and that short term market fluctuations need to always be considered in the context of that long term investment horizon.

To contact a client service manager to discuss legalsuper’s investment options please email David Eastwood.