Nama to sell funds backed by properties

SIMON CARSWELL, Finance Correspondent

THE NATIONAL Asset Management Agency is planning to set up funds backed by properties acquired from receivers it has appointed, to sell on to investors.

The State loans agency has issued a tender seeking proposals from investment managers to set up the property funds, known as qualifying investor funds.

The size of funds is not disclosed by Nama in the tender notice, but the agency also plans to seek investment managers of sub-funds backed by property assets.

The minimum subscription requirement for such a fund is €250,000, according to the Central Bank, which regulates them.

Qualifying investors are defined as individuals with a minimum net worth of more than €1.25 million or an institution that owns or invests on a discretionary basis at least €25 million. Nama is seeking tenders from interested investment managers by March 6th.

Nama has appointed receivers in about 100 cases including some of its biggest debtors, among them Derek Quinlan, Seán Dunne, Paddy Kelly and Ray Grehan.

The agency, which manages €74 billion of debt purchased from the banks for €31 billion, is looking at alternative ways to sell assets as part of its debt reduction plan.

Under the EU-IMF bailout programme, the State agency must reduce its debts by 25 per cent or €7.5 billion by the end of 2013.

Nama has also considered setting up mortgage real estate investment trusts that would involve the agency pooling mortgages into trusts, in which shares would then be sold on to investors.