THOUGH property is included in some private and institutional portfolios in Europe and the United States, it plays no part in Hong Kong.
The portfolios managed by companies here are almost all invested only in stocks, bonds and cash.
'Unless you have a certain amount of equities, you are not going to keep up with inflation. The bonds provide the stability and income, the equities add the long-term growth and the cash is there as a kind of balancing item,' said Schroders Investment Management's managing director, Richard Haw.
'The market sums involved in property are very large and they can sometimes be liquid.
'A large part of the stockmarket is dominated by property counters so you can argue that you can get the exposure to property from the property shares.' While asset management companies in Britain and Australia could buy parts of a building for their clients, this kind of approach was banned in Hong Kong.
HSBC Asset Management's chief executive, Tommy Thompson, said that fund management houses had traditionally not offered property as an investment, probably because real estate was so expensive in Hong Kong. And the sizes of funds did not justify buying flats or offices.