UBS halts withdrawals from $469 million real estate fund for up to 3 years

March 26 (Reuters) - Swiss lender UBS UBSG.S has suspended withdrawals from its Euroinvest real estate fund for up to three years citing insufficient liquidity, the bank said in an investor notice seen by Reuters.

"In this challenging market environment, UBS Real Estate GmbH has taken the decision to suspend redemptions at this time to ensure the protection of all our investors' interests," the bank said in a statement.

The Germany-based fund had assets under management of 406.8 million euros ($469.4 million) at the end of February, according to a fund fact sheet.

In the notice, UBS said the fund's liquid assets were insufficient to meet redemption requests and that any requests submitted after March 25 would not be executed.

The Swiss bank also said it would suspend issuance of new shares, as additional sales were unlikely to materially improve fund liquidity and could expose investors subscribing during the redemption halt to heightened risks if redemptions are not resumed and the fund is "wound up".

The move by UBS is the latest in a string of asset managers placing caps on funds, most of them private credit funds in the United States, amid a surge in redemption requests.

Ares ARES.N, Apollo Global APO.N and BlackRock's BLK.N HPS Corporate Lending Fund have previously capped investor withdrawals at 5%.

($1 = 0.8666 euros)