This is what distinguishes journalists from PR professionals. Journalists are delighted when they can feature an exciting piece of news at the top of the page. In the communications department, there's a tendency to place such messages at the bottom. A good example of this is the fall in price of the open real estate fund UniImmo Wohnen ZBI.

Overnight, investors lost nearly 17%. That's a shock. That's newsworthy. Such losses in one day are rare even in the stock market. It's certainly bitter, but open real estate funds have their peculiarities. Investors couldn't even sell, because these products have a lock-up period and notice period. But how to handle clients? Clearly, one wants to spare them from such bad news.

The disaster had been brewing. UniImmo Wohnen had been steadily losing value over the past weeks and months. And the rating agency Scope had significantly downgraded two other open residential real estate funds.

However, does maintaining or gaining trust involve showing „restraint“? By hiding bad news somewhere on the website? And then acting as if residential real estate is an important asset class for portfolios? Fund companies may need to learn a thing or two about communication. This doesn't just apply to Union Investment but also to other firms. A few months ago, KanAm's Leading Cities fund had to devalue by 13%.

Such cuts are inevitable when many investors want out. Properties need to be sold, even below book value, and thus devalued. It's fair to be honest with investors, and tell them that real estate funds are not necessarily stable investments. They can be subject to significant and surprising devaluations. Whether this is good advertising for these funds is another question. It's a pity. since open real estate funds are actually not a bad form of investment.