Specialist fund manager Braemar Group has deferred redemptions on its Student Accommodation Fund for up to a year after a run of withdrawals.

In the group’s latest performance summary, it revealed that it had received redemption requests for more than 10 per cent of the net asset value of the fund.

It revealed that there had been ‘insufficient’ matching subscriptions to the fund or cash available to meet the redemption requests and the fund’s normal expenses.

The fund management subsidiary owned by financial advice group Brooks Macdonald said that redemptions would be delayed for up to a year from May 2011 to achieve a realisation of assets.

The retail share class has a minimum initial investment of £10,000. Former chairman and director Marc Duschenes, who had owned 139,584.05 retail class shares, stepped down at the end of March.

Duschenes was replaced as chairman by director John Ward on 13 April, while William Robinson was appointed director.

The move has also prompted the suspension of trading in Braemar Group’s shares on the Channel Islands Stock Exchange, which it expects to be lifted when redemptions have been made.

The fund – which has a gross asset value of £29.8 million and gearing of 52.3 per cent – owns fully let properties in Manchester, Bristol and Newcastle.

In 2008, specialist property fund manager Brandeaux was forced to suspend redemptions in its Sterling fund, which held a significant investment in student accommodation, not opening again until 2010.

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