Distributions

Fund income is distributed quarterly, in arrears. A quarter closes, the income for that quarter is determined on the fund books, and the distribution follows. You choose whether to take it as cash or reinvest it.

Why it is paid in arrears

Rent is collected through the quarter and the costs of running the properties are paid out of it. Only once the quarter has closed is it known what is actually available to distribute. Paying in arrears means the figure reflects what the properties earned rather than what they were forecast to earn.

Cash or reinvestment

You set an election per fund, so you can take income in cash from one holding while reinvesting in another. The election applies to distributions declared after you set it, not retrospectively to one already processed.

• Cash. The distribution is paid out to you.
• Reinvest. The distribution buys additional units instead, at the fund value per unit struck at the end of the period being distributed. Your unit count grows and nothing leaves the fund.

Reinvested units are new units. They are acquired on the date they are issued, which matters for the transfer restrictions covered in liquidity and transfers.

What you will see

• A distribution notice for the period.
• The amount attributable to your holding, in your account.
• Either a cash payment or an increased unit count, depending on your election.
• The amounts carried into your annual tax reporting, covered in statements and tax documents.

Your return is not the fund return

A published fund return covers a full period. Yours depends on when you invested, what you paid for your units and whether you reinvested along the way. An investor who subscribed midway through a year did not participate in the whole of it, so their outcome differs from the headline figure even though both are correct.