Trogdor,
Yes, I was just reading about this in an article called 'the relevance of the index'. Apparently in 2003 and 2004 there were a lot of mergers and consolidations amongst exisiting LPT's - there used to be smaller sized and more sector specific trusts, but now there are more bigger sized and diversified trusts.
In addition many on the LPT's are becoming 'stapled securities', meaning they are associated with a listed company, and hence part of their earnings comes from business income and has the associated risk/volatility of business, like Westfield, as you have mentioned. This aspect of LPT's is again unnattractive to me as I don't understand business much, or the various creative (non-rental) ways these LPT's are now using to generate income.
I really don't like to invest in anything I don't fully understand.
These bigger LPT's are, as you suggest, unlike what they may have been in the past - perhaps a lot simpler, straightforward, easier to understand, and basically predominantly making their money from the income/capital growth of direct property investments.
Due to their sheer size, these LPT's are essentially changing the nature of this LPT index. There is more and more of a 'sharemarket effect' on the LPT index. The reliability, security, risk and volatility profiles of LPT's may be very different in coming years.
Thanks for the tip - I will have a look at the PDS of APN Funds Management, and some of the index funds currently available...
GSJ
