United Bankers to postpone redemptions of two of its real estate funds
Summary
- United Bankers has announced the postponement of redemptions for its UB Nordic Property and UB Finnish Properties funds, marking the first time it has restricted redemptions in its real estate funds.
- Redemptions since 2022 have reached approximately 20% of the UB Nordic Property fund's NAV and nearly 30% for the UB Finnish Properties fund, aligning with industry averages.
- The company cites the challenging real estate market and recent interest rate hikes as reasons for the restrictions, with outstanding redemptions estimated at around 20 MEUR, or 7% of the funds' equity.
- Real estate funds are significant for United Bankers, contributing to about 30% of fund management fees in 2025, but their importance has declined due to redemptions, shifting growth reliance to other funds and wealth management.
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Translation: Original published in Finnish on 10/2/2026 at 8:10 am EEST.
United Bankers (UB) announced yesterday that it is postponing the payment of redemptions for the UB Nordic Property and UB Finnish Properties funds. This is the first time that United Bankers has had to restrict redemptions in its real estate funds, as the company has until now been one of the few operators able to pay out redemptions. Considering the recent rise in interest rates, this development is not entirely unexpected to us. The news has no immediate impact on our estimates, but it highlights the weak outlook for real estate funds.
According to our calculations, redemptions paid out from the UB Nordic Property fund since 2022 have amounted to around 20% of the fund's net asset value (NAV) and nearly 30% from the UB Finnish Properties fund. We believe these figures are in line with the industry average, and United Bankers has practically been able to pay out redemptions longer than many other companies before introducing restrictions. UB justifies the use of restrictions due to the challenging situation in the real estate market, which has weakened further as a result of the latest interest rate hikes.
Unlike some other industry operators, United Bankers does not have a significant redemption queue to clear. We estimate the total sum of outstanding redemptions to likely be around 20 MEUR, which represents about 7% of the funds' equity. From the company's perspective, these real estate funds are important for United Bankers, accounting for around 30% of the fund management fees in 2025. However, this percentage has decreased in recent years due to redemptions. The news underscores the fact that, in the foreseeable future, real estate funds will not provide any support, so the company's growth will rely on sales of other spearhead funds and wealth management.