"The wider question is whether this time frame applies across the rest of the sector, and property fund investors would no doubt welcome similar guidance from other suspended funds"
The Aviva Investors Property Trust owns a range of properties including offices, high street shops, shopping centres, out-of-town retail parks, distribution warehouses and leisure facilities.
In a note to investors, Aviva said that "challenging market conditions in light of investor sentiment regarding the EU referendum reduced the amount of cash held by the Trust".
The fund group said that the long closure period reflects the time it takes to sell commercial properties.
Hargreaves Lansdown said this is "the first property fund manager we are aware of who has put a time frame on how long the trading suspension may last".
Following the Referendum result, Standard Life and Aviva both suspended trading in their property funds following a rapid increase in redemption requests.
In response, the FCA issued a note reminding fund managers that they "have a duty to act in the best interests of all investors... therefore they must consider how to ensure the on-going fair treatment of all investors in their funds in the context of the current market conditions".
Retail investors withdrew £3.5 billion from UK investment funds in June, compared to the £561 million withdrawn in the worst month during the financial crisis, according to Investment Association.
Laith Khalaf, Senior Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "This is a big blow to investors in the Aviva fund, who are basically now being told they won’t be able to get their money out any time in 2016. The wider question is whether this time frame applies across the rest of the sector, and property fund investors would no doubt welcome similar guidance from other suspended funds as to when they might open again, so at least expectations can be set accordingly.
"Once again this highlights the problems of investing in an illiquid asset class via an open-ended fund which offers liquidity on a daily basis, until it’s forced to shut up shop at least. Being unable to trade in your fund for the best part of a year is more than a minor inconvenience, and over such a long time period we can expect a natural flow of people who want to access their money for perfectly normal reasons, entirely unrelated to the Brexit vote. These investors will now face the frustration of simply having to sit tight and wait for the doors to open."
