Who checks the numbers?

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP audits the Trust's annual financial statements.

An audit is a narrow thing and it is worth being precise about what it does and does not tell you. It gives an opinion on whether the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Trust in accordance with the applicable accounting framework. It is not an opinion that the investment is a good one, that the strategy will work, or that any return will be achieved.

What it does give you is that the annual financial statements have been examined by an outside firm which put its name to them. Be precise about the limit of that: an audit does not verify the net asset value your units were priced at during the year, and in a property fund the value of the real estate is an estimate made by management — usually supported by third-party appraisals and tested by the auditor for reasonableness, but an estimate all the same. Ask who prepared the appraisals, how often, and whether the appraiser is independent of the manager.