Real estate fund cuts dividends by 76 percent
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- December
- 22
A Purchase-based real estate fund is cutting monthly dividend payments to its investors by 76 percent in response to the sharp downturn in the credit and real estate markets.
The Alpine Global Premier Properties Fund said that the monthly distributions to investors will be 3 cents a share during January, February and March, down from monthly distributions of 12.67 cents a share previously.Fund manager Sam Lieber said that a “crisis of confidence” is hurting the real estate market and affecting dividend payouts.
“Given the current level of uncertainty, the board of (the fund) believes it is prudent to reduce the monthly distribution,” Lieber said in a written statement. “This decision reflects current conditions and best positions the fund to meet its primary objective of long-term capital appreciation.”
The fund is down 66 percent this year, worse than a 32 percent drop for its peers, according to Bloomberg News. The fund’s weak performance is a sharp reversal for Lieber, who racked up stellar returns during the housing boom earlier this decade by investing heavily in homebuilders. In October, managers responded to the steep sell-off by announcing plans to buy back more than 279,000 shares of the closed-end fund.
Two other funds managed at the same investment company in Purchase also announced a change in policy regarding payouts to shareholders. The Alpine Total Dynamic Dividend Fund and Alpine Global Dynamic Dividend Fund said that would maintain their regular payouts of 18 cents a share and 17 cents a share respectively for January. But the funds, citing the difficult market environment, are shifting to monthly distribution declarations, instead of quarterly.
This entry was posted
on Monday, December 22nd, 2008 at 3:41 pm by Jay Loomis.
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