Temporary suspension on contributions, transfers and redemptions from Canadian real estate funds

Today, Canada Life announced a temporary suspension on contributions, transfers and redemptions for its Canadian real estate investment funds, effective close of business March 20, 2020 at 4:00 pm ET.

The impacted funds are the Great-West Life Canadian Real Estate Investment Fund No. 1 and London Life Real Estate Fund 2.17G (“the Funds”).

The decision to suspend these Funds was made in the best interests of all unitholders.

What caused this?

The COVID-19 virus has impacted the global economy, including property markets, and has made it difficult to value the property owned by the Funds with the same degree of certainty as usual. This affects the company’s ability to calculate the unit price used to buy and sell units in the Funds, and we believe this gives rise to a material risk to our ability to ensure the unit price will continue to be valued appropriately to ensure that unitholders may buy and sell units at a price that reflects their value.

To mitigate that risk, Canada Life is suspending contributions to, and redemptions and transfers from, the Funds.  While the Funds continue to be in a positive cash position and have capacity to increase liquidity through operating cash-flow, asset sales and mortgage financing, there is the possibility of an extended period of redemptions pressure due to the current economic conditions. The current economic climate also raises concerns about the company’s ability to obtain fair market value on the disposition of real estate assets, should it become necessary to do so to meet liquidity demands, which would potentially be detrimental to the long-term interests of unitholders. The suspension of redemptions and transfers from the Funds will preserve the current liquidity position and protect our ability to satisfy redemptions when the suspension ends.

You’re invited: Real Estate fund call   

 Join us for a conference call on Monday, March 23.  Call information to follow shortly.   

Additional information:

• Q&A you can use with your clients
• Template client email you can send to your clients who may be impacted by the suspension

You can be assured we will keep you up-to-date with any significant developments during this challenging period.