By You Yang and Lin Kaiyi King & Wood’s Real Estate Group

A real estate pooled investment fund ("RE Pooled Fund") is where trust companies raise funds from investors (who act as both "settlors" and "beneficiaries" in the trust) and work with real estate developers to provide beneficiaries with profits in return. RE Pooled Funds generate returns through specific assets, equity investments, loans, or a hybrid thereof.

With housing purchase restrictions being implemented in China’s major cities, real estate developers working with trust companies are facing serious cash flow pressure and some of them have even experienced operating difficulties. When real estate developers are unable to provide trust companies with high investment returns on schedule, and investors continue to hold expectations of high returns regardless of investment risk, trust companies are inclined to pay investors at their own expense and solve investment return problems with real estate developers internally rather than disclose investment risk to the investors. This is partly because trust companies value their reputation and the reputation of their investment products and want to avoid upsetting trustees and commercial banks who engage in selling the trust company’s products. Trust companies may also be concerned about the potential for class-action lawsuits by investors. However, such trust companies may one day be unable or unwilling to pay investors out of their own pockets, or investors may no longer be satisfied with being paid investment returns, leading to a very unsustainable situation.Continue Reading Risk Management for China’s Real Estate Pooled Investment Funds (Part I of II)