by Bill Witherell
Financial Sense
Post-Brexit-vote pain is beginning, and it will get worse. Investors’ attitudes about Britain’s prospects are signaled by the tumbling currency. This week the pound plunged to three-decade lows. Confidence in Britain’s economy has been seriously hurt. The first impacts have been in Britain’s property market. On Monday, Standard Life Investment UK Real Estate Fund suspended trading after a surge in redemption requests. This was followed by similar suspension action by Aviva Investors, M&G Investments, and the Henderson Funds. Commercial real estate investors fear falling property prices. This sector was already declining before the vote. According to the Bank of England, foreign capital inflows into this sector fell almost 50% in the first quarter.