In a bid to tap into the vast opportunities in the real estate sector of the Nigerian economy, Skye bank has launched a fund targeted at acheiving this feat.The fund is offering by way of subscription 20 million units of N100 each. It is a close-ended Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) scheme intended as a platform for pooling resources together from various classes of investors interested in exploring investment opportunities in real estate business. The offer opens Monday July 23, 2007 on the floors of the Nigerian Stock Exchange and it is expected to run for six weeks. It closes on August 29, 2007.

The fund is being underwritten up to 35 percent by the bank in addition to the 20 per cent mandatory subscription.The fund managers have projected a Return on Investment of 26%, 30% and 33% repectively for the next 3 years. Also, a minimum of 80 percent of the income would be distributed to unit holders at the end of every financial year.

The floating of the SSF by Skye Bank is the first of its kind by any bank in Nigeria since the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) began sensitization for the listing of (REIT) in the market.An application has already been made to the council of the stock exchange for the admission of the units offered to its daily official list.