REIT Rankings Best Real Estate Investment Trust Rankings – REIT Rankings
Louis Haddad, president and CEO of Armada Hoffler Properties, Inc. (NYSE: AHH), joined REIT.com for a CEO Spotlight video interview at REITWorld 2014: NAREIT’s Annual Convention for All Things REIT at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
David Hegarty, president and COO of Senior Housing Properties Trust (NYSE: SNH), joined REIT.com for a CEO Spotlight video interview at REITWorld 2014: NAREIT’s Annual Convention for All Things REIT at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
Hegarty explained that, despite its name, almost 50 percent of the company’s assets consist of medical office buildings, with senior housing accounting for the remaining portion. The majority of the properties, which are spread across 39 states, are triple net-leased.
John Murray, president and COO of Hospitality Properties Trust (NYSE: HPT), joined REIT.com for a video interview at REITWorld 2014: NAREIT’s Annual Convention for All Things REIT at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
Founded in 1995, Hospitality Properties Trust owns hotels and highway travel centers located throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
Turning first to fundamentals for the hotel side of the company, Murray noted that the lodging sector has been in a recovery phase for the past five or six years.
Steve Shigekawa, managing director at Neuberger Berman, joined REIT.com for a video interview at REITWorld 2014: NAREIT’s Annual Convention for All Things REIT at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
Shigekawa noted that the biggest surprise for the REIT industry during 2014 has been the decline in interest rates.
“At the beginning of the year, the 10-year Treasury note was 3 percent. At the time, the consensus view was that interest rates would go higher, which would be a headwind for the REIT market. What we’ve actually seen is the opposite,” he observed.
J. Scott Craig, vice president and portfolio manager at Eaton Vance Management, joined REIT.com for a video interview at REITWorld 2014: NAREIT’s Annual Convention for All Things REIT at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
Craig discussed ways in which his background as a certified public accountant influences his approach to investing.
“It’s very easy to take accounting for granted and to assume everything is fine,” Craig said. He added that he has now started to have conversations with companies regarding their systems of checks and balances in accounting.
Steven Marks, managing director with Fitch Ratings, joined REIT.com for a video interview at REITWorld 2014: NAREIT’s Annual Convention for All Things REIT at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
Marks has been monitoring REITs’ stock buybacks in the second half of the year, and he noted that activity has been limited. He attributed the lack of buybacks to the performance of REIT stocks in 2014, as most are trading at prices about their net asset values (NAV).
“Thus, [the stocks] are less economic from a buyback standpoint; they’re not as accretive,” Marks said.
Paul Curbo, portfolio manager at INVESCO Realty Advisors, joined REIT.com for a video interview at REITWorld 2014: NAREIT’s Annual Convention for All Things REIT at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
Curbo highlighted the biggest changes he has seen in the real estate sector during the last two decades.
“Real estate has become an accepted investment class. Twenty years ago, we often had to explain the merits of investing in REITs,” he said.
The benefits of REIT income, diversification and total returns have now become apparent, Curbo noted.
Ettore Santucci, partner and co-chair of the REIT group with Goodwin Procter, joined REIT.com for a video interview at REITWorld 2014: NAREIT’s Annual Convention for All Things REIT at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.
Regarding overseas investment in U.S. real estate, Santucci described the amount of cross-border capital flowing into U.S. real estate as “enormous.” These non-U.S. investors are primarily “big game hunting,” according to Santucci: looking for trophy assets and portfolios.
David Auerbach, institutional trader with Esposito Securities, looked back at the REIT market in 2014 and ahead to 2015 on the latest edition of the NAREIT Podcast.
With the year coming to a close, Auerbach discussed some of the biggest developments in the REIT market in 2014. He described it as an “exciting year for REIT investors.” He said the moves made by The Blackstone Group, including taking multiple real estate portfolios public, took center stage throughout the year.
