Real Estate Chaos Forces LPL to Halt Purchases of Property Funds

The real estate freeze is starting to take a toll on investors and asset managers.

One of the largest U.S. independent broker dealers made a sweeping decision this week to block investors from purchasing almost a dozen real estate funds, including those from Blackstone Group Inc. and Starwood Capital.

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. first took action on Monday and said it would cut off purchases in eight non-traded real estate investment trusts. On Wednesday, it expanded that to include several publicly-traded property interval funds, according to documents viewed by Bloomberg.

The firm, whose clients include registered investment advisers and ...