By Reuters
SYDNEY (Reuters) — One of Australia’s biggest private lenders suspended trading in three investment funds on Monday after auditors challenged its valuations, forcing it to cut the reported value of some assets by as much as 12%.
Metrics Credit Partners, which manages about A$40 billion ($28 billion), halted trading in three funds listed on the Australian Securities Exchange before the market opened.
The move affected the Metrics Real Estate Multi-Strategy Fund, Metrics Income Opportunities Trust and Metrics Master Income Trust.
Metrics said auditor KPMG used different assumptions and placed greater weight on the possibility of unfavorable outcomes when reviewing the funds’ financial statements.
That resulted in a 12.16% reduction in the net asset value of the real estate fund and a 10.08% cut for the Income Opportunities Trust. The Master Income Trust received a smaller 1.99% markdown.
The biggest adjustment was at the Real Estate Multi-Strategy Fund, where net tangible assets were cut to A$2.22 per unit from A$2.53.—Reuters
