Article 2
Notion

1.The real estate investment funds, hereinafter referred to solely as investment funds, are institutions of collective investment whose sole objective consists in the investment, under the terms foreseen in the present diploma and in the respective regulations, of capital obtained from investors and operating under the principal of risk sharing.

2. Under the special regime of pooling regulated by the present diploma, the investment funds constitute autonomous assets belonging to a plethora of natural persons and legal bodies referred to as “unit holders”, the latter not being responsible under any circumstances, without prejudice for that laid down in article 48, for the debts of the former or of the entities that, under the terms of the law, guarantee their management.

3. The designation «real estate investment fund» can only be used in relation to the investment funds that are regulated under the present diploma.

Article 3
Types

1. The investment funds can be open-ended, closed-ended or mixed.

2.Investment funds are open-ended when the units are variable in number.
(Open-Ended Funds PDF)

3. Investment funds are closed-ended when the units are fixed in number.
(Privately Placed Closed-ended Funds PDF | Publicly Placed Open-ended Funds PDF)

4. Investment funds are mixed when there are two categories of units, one being fixed in number and the other being variable in number.
(Mixed Funds PDF).

The CMVM regulation no. 8/2002 with the modifications introduced by the CMVM regulation no. 1/2005 introduced a new figure in the Portuguese financial scene:

Section I-A(3)
Special Real Estate Investment Funds

Article 7-A
General provisions

1. The creation and operation of special real estate investment funds (SREIF) is regulated by that laid down in the present Section and, in whatever is not incompatible with its nature, by that laid down in the Legal Regime of Real Estate Investment Funds and in the present Regulation.

2. The name of the SREIF should make clear the policy of investments carried out and contain the expression “Special Real Estate Investment Fund”.

3. The SREIF will be sold to specific segments of investors defined in the management regulation and prospectus.
(SREI Funds PDF)