Two German real estate mutual funds with €10.5bn ($13bn) of assets closed for redemptions yesterday after government proposals to impose write-downs prompted investors to try to withdraw their money. SEB Asset Management AG closed its ImmoInvest fund and KanAm Grund KAG closed Grundinvest Fonds after German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble released a draft bill on May 3 that recommended a 10% cut in asset values across the industry. In the past five years, Germany’s €89bn real estate mutual-fund industry has been rocked by unprecedented waves of redemptions by investors.
