Title: IB 1006 Islamic REITS
1IB 1006 Islamic REITS
- Prof. Dr. Saiful Azhar Rosly
- International Center for Education in Islamic
Finance (INCEIF)
2Islamic Financial System
Islamic Financial System Definition Quranic
rules and Regulations (Divine values) that
govern the flow of funds from the surplus
spending unit (SSU) to the deficit spending unit
(DSU).
Islamic Financial Market
Deficit Sector
Surplus Sector
Takaful
Direct Financial Market
Islamic Money Market
Indirect Financial Market
Commercial Banks
Unit Trusts
CAPITAL MARKET
Islamic Bond Market
Finance Companies
Islamic Equity Market
Merchant banks
Islamic REITS
3LIMITED RESOURCES
UNLIMITED DESIRES
ISLAMIC ECONOMICS
SCARCITY
Scarcity requires man to be efficient in
utilizing resources We cannot afford to waste
resources under scarcity Inefficiency due
to misallocation of resources can create 1.
Poverty 2. Inflation 3. Unemployment 4. Negative
growth
BASIC ECONOMIC PROBLEMS P1 What to
produce? How much? P2 How to
produce? P3 How to reward factor
inputs? P4 How to control inflation and
unemployment? P5 How to attain
positive growth?
PROBLEM OF CHOICE
KNOWLEDGE
REASON/DEDUCTION(Istiqra) SENSES/INDUCTION
(Istinbat)
4Human Behaviour Choice Action
Based on Non-Observable Foundations (DIVINE)
Based on Observable Foundations (SCIENCE)
Fard Ayn (Obligatory knowledge)
Reason
Rukun Iman
Rukun Islam
Facts
Concept of God Din Man Society Universe Propheth
ood
IslamicWorldview
5Primordial Stage (Alam Ruh)
The Muslim Mindset Stages of Existence from
Islamic perspective
Mothers Womb (Alam Rahim)
Dunya (World) Scarcity
Alam Barzakh (Life in the Grave)
Hereafter (Akhirah)
6ISLAMIC REITS OBJECTIVES
- Shariah aspects Equity Objective
- - Observing the Purpose of Shariah (Maqasid
Al-Shariah) - - Application of Islamic Contracts
- - 20 cap on non-Shariah permissible trades
- Operational (Tabi) aspects Efficiency
Objective - -Yield
- - Management Fees
- -Tax
- -Business strategies such as investment,
operating, acquisition and capital management
strategies - to improve yield - -Marketing
- -Risk
-
7Principles of Islamic Finance
- Shari Principles Equity objective
- e.g. Halal Haram
- DOING THE RIGHT THING
- 2. Tabi Principles Efficiency objective
- DOING IT RIGHT
8Islamic Financial System is based on Divine Values
- These Divine values are put together under 5
basic principles
9SHARIAH PRINCIPLES IN FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS
- Principle 1 Prohibition of riba
- Principle 2 Application of al-bay (trade
and commerce) - Principle 3 Avoidance of gharar
(ambiguities) in contractual agreements - Principle 4 Prohibition of maisir (gambling)
- Principle 5 Disengagement from production of
impure commodities.
10SHARIAH Divine Values
SHARIAH OF ISLAM
AQIDAH (FAITH) Rukn Iman Belief in God, the
Angels, the Prophets, the Holy Books, and
Predestination
AKHLAK (ETHICS AND MORALITY Knowledge of
Conducts Virtues and Vices
MUAMALAT (INTERACTIONS)
MAN AMONG MAN Criminal Law, family Law Laws of
Contract, etc.
GOD AND MAN Rukn Islam
11SHARIAH
- Purpose of Shariah PROTECTION OF PUBLIC INTEREST
- 1. Preservation of benefits The Permissible
(Halal) - 2. Prevention of harm The Prohibited (Haram)
12SHARIAH PRINCIPLE 1Prohibition of interest as
ribaNo contractual guarantee(s) on
investmentsThey say Trade is like riba
(Qalu Innamal bayu mith lurriba) The Quran
says Allah has allowed al-bay but prohibits
riba(waahalallah ul bay wa haramu riba)
(Al-Baqarah 275-278)
13SHARIAH PRINCIPLE 2Application
ofAl-BayProfit creation with equivalent
counter-value (iwad) eg. no risk no gainrisk
iwadgain profit
14Principle Components of iwad1.
Risk-taking(Al-Ghorm bil Ghonm)2.
Value-addition3. Liability(Al-Kharaj Bil Daman)
15SHARIAH PRINCIPLE 3Elimination of
uncertainties/ambiguities (gharar) in contractual
agreements
16SHARIAH PRINCIPLE 4Prohibition of Gambling
(Maisir)i.e earning via game of chance
17Gambling
- Lotteries
- Casinos
- Insurance
- Commodity Trading
- Futures
- Options
18MAISIR Game of Chance
- Excessive risk
- Earnings arising from mere chance (aleotary) and
not by way of knowledge, skills and
value-addition - The probability of winning is very remote
- Zero-sum game
- One party wins and the other losses
- Aleotary outcome arising from pure chance alone
- Making bets with an expectation to win
- Bets and winnings are hugely disproportionate
19SHARIAH PRINCIPLE 5Avoiding impure
commodities.
20Islamic Finance Principles
- No profit can be created without risk-taking.
- Islamic financial transactions are based on valid
contracts - The Purpose of the Shariah (Maqasid al-Shariah)
is strictly observed - Purpose of Shariah PROTECTION OF PUBLIC
INTEREST - 1. Preservation of benefits The Permissible
(Halal) - 2. Prevention of harm The Prohibited (Haram)
21Islamic Finance
- Corporate Finance
- Sukuks, Islamic Private Debt Securities, Islamic
REITS, Islamic Unit Trusts - Consumer Finance
- Murabahah, Ijara
- Enterprise Finance Small Medium Sized
Enterprises - Mudaraba, Musyarakah
- Microfinance
- Public Finance
22Allah has allowed trading and commerce (al-bay)
but prohibits riba (Quran Al-Baqarah 275)
- Islamic Banking Trading Commerce
23Allah has allowed AL-BAY but prohibits
RIBAAL-BAY(TRADE COMMERCE)
Al-Bay
Contract of Exchange Uqud al-buyu
Contract of Profit-Sharing Uqud al-Istiraq
Al-Mudharabah (Trustee Partnership)
Contract Sale Exchange Goods for Money
Al-Shirka (General Partnership)
Contract of Sale Exchange Services for Money
Ijarah Wakalah Kafalah
Forward Sale
Spot Sale with mark-up (Al-Murabahah) Bayal-musaw
aammah Bay Wadhiah, Mutlak
Deferred Sale Bay Muajjal
Salam
Istisna
Al-Murabahah Credit sale
Bai-Bithaman Ajil
24Principle of Contract (Aqd) in Al-Bay
Aqad Approach
Buyer Seller
AL-BAY Trade Commerce
Object
Price
25Pillars of Contract (AQD)
- Agents of Contract - rational
- Objective of Contract transfer of ownership
- Price stated on the spot
- Subject matter - halal
- Offer Acceptance
26Productive Elements in Al-Bay
ghorm
Risk-Taking
AL-BAY Trade Commerce
kasb
Work Effort
Responsibility
daman
IWAD APPROACH
27Multi-dimentional view of Al-Bay
AQAD
IWAD
Buyer Seller
RISK (al-ghorm bil ghonm)
AL-BAY
Object
EFFORT
Price
RESPONSIBILITY Al-kharaj bil daman
28Al-Bay and Its Derivatives
Buy Sell
Leasing
AL-BAY
RISK WORK RESPONSIBILITY
Partnership
Fee-Based
29Al-Bay and Its Derivatives
SUKUKS
Ijarah
Asset Financing
Murabahah
Islamic Banking
RISK WORK RESPONSIBILITY
Partnership
Enterprise Financing SMEs
Fee-Based
Wakalah, kafala
30Industry Updates
31Al-Hadharah Boustead REIT
32AL-AQAR KPJ REIT - MALAYSIA
33AXIS REIT - MALAYSIA
34Islamic REITS Basic Issues
- Objective
- Structure
- Regulatory Regime
- General Benefits
- Investors
- Comparison with Alternative Investment
- Fees and Charges
- Performance Indicators
35Objective of an Islamic REITS
- To provide unit holders with a stable
distributions per unit with the potential for
sustainable long-term growth of such
distributions. - How?
- By optimizing the performance and enhancing the
overall quality of a large and geographically
diversified portfolio of Shariah-Compliant real
estate assets through various permissible
investments and business strategies.
36(No Transcript)
37ISLAMIC REAL ESTATE FUNDS
Fund Manager / Distributor Name of Fund Country Size (USDm) Type Investor Advisor Description
Guidance Financial Group Guidance Fixed Income Fund USA 200 Residential Freddie Mac real estate finance assets. The securities will be issued and guaranteed by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac). The fund will hold securities that are backed by Shariah-compliant
Shamil Bank China Realty Fund China 150 Commercial CITIC International Assets Management Co. Ltd. (CITICIAM) Shamil Bank Bahrain entered into an MoU with prominent Chinese financial institutions, CITICIAM to set up and launch USD150m closed-end China Realty Fund.
38ISLAMIC REAL ESTATE FUNDS
Fund Manager / Distributor Name of Fund Country Size (USDm) Type Investor Advisor Description
Kuwait Finance House Baitak Asia Real Estate Fund South Asia 600 Commercial, Residential Pacific Star Group A USD600m Islamic real estate fund. The Baitak Asia Real Estate Fund will invest in residential and commercial sites in Asian countries. This will be the first real estate deal in Asia for Kuwait Finance House.
Kuwait Finance House Islamic European Real Estate Fund Europe 486 Commercial, Residential Equity Estates BV The fund intends to invest Euro 400m in European property concentrating on high yielding office, logistics and light industrial properties in the Benelux, France and Germany.
Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) Cheung Kong Group Al Islamic Far Eastern Real Estate Fund Far East 450 Commercial, Retail, Residential ARA Asset Management The new fund will be managed by ARA Asset Management and jointly promoted by DIB and Cheung Kong Group. The Islamic-compliant investment vehicle has set aside USD450m to invest in commercial, retail and residential projects in major Asian cities.
39REITs Market around the WorldTop 15 World Real
Estate market
Sources World Bank Organization, FTSE, EPRA
- United States has the largest real estate market
in the world. The estimated size of the US market
is approximately US5 trillion. - Japan ranks second with around US2 trillion,
followed by the four major European economies.
The German market is approximately US1.1
trillion, with the UK just behind at
approximately US1 trillion. - France is close to US800 billion. Italy is
approximately US660 billion. Canada comes in at
just under the US400 billion mark. - The top 15 countries comprise around 88 of the
total global real estate market. Interestingly,
the top five countries hold 68 of the total. The
next ten countries add 20 and the remaining 34
countries make up the final 12.
No OIC member countries. But Islamic REITS can be
structured under Conventional legislation in
non-Muslim countries.
40Structure and Organization
41TYPICAL REITS RELATIONS
Unitholders
REIT
Trustee
Management Company
Invest in authorised investment
Distribution and Possible capital gains
42Islamic REITS
- Tripartite agreement between three parties
- The Manager
- The Trustee
- Unitholders
- Tripartite relationship is governed by a Deed
registered with the Regulator (e.g Securities
Commission Malaysia)
43DEED
- A Deed is a legal instrument used to grant a
right. - The trust deed is a legally binding agreement
between the manager, trustee and unit holders.
The agreement usually spells out clearly how the
unit trust scheme is to be administered. The
contents usually include- - Valuing and the pricing of units
- Keeping of proper accounts and records
- Collection and distribution of income
- Rights of unit holders
- Duties and responsibilities of the manager
- Duties and responsibilities of the trustees and
- Protection of unit holders interest.
44Shariah Aspects
45SHARIAH ASPECTS LEGALITY
- The SC I-REITS Guidelines discussed four matters
for I-REITS, viz. - rental of real estate by I-REITS for business
purposes with a permissibility benchmark of 20 - investment, deposit and financing for I-REITS
- takaful schemes to insure real estate and
- forward sales or purchases of currency for risk
management.
46ISLAMIC REITS Legality
4720 Permissibility Benchmark
- Benchmarking is based on rental space rather than
volumes of sales the non-permissible business can
generate. - Nature of all non-permissible businesses is that
it is highly profitable. - 1. casino lottery outlets game of chance
always favour the operator - 2. liqour stores addiction i.e captured market
- 4. interest-bearing banks- small cap but
- able to raise high volumes of deposits to
make loans.
48Islamic Benchmark Space/Sales ratio and
Space/Sales.
20
sales
200m
non-halal
80
sales
halal
100m
49Islamic Contracts in REITS WAKALAH Model
- Unitholders and Management Company(MC)
- Wakalah Fee-based
- Unitholders appoint MC to invest funds in
properties. - MC earns fees.
- Unitholders and Trustee
- Wakalah Fee-Based
- Unitholders appoint Trustee to serve as a
custodian for all the assets of the Islamic REIT. - Trustee earns fees.
- The Wakalah principles are incorporated in the
Deed of Islamic Reits.
50Nature of work undertaken by Management Company
(Wakil)
- Managing the Properties effectively
- Maintaining net property income
- Maximizing the return and performance of each
Properties and their growth via enhancement of
properties - Raising the profile of Properties
- Acquiring property assets with good yield and
growth potential for both locally and abroad that
meet the Managers investment criteria - Employing optimum capital structure.
51Wakalah Fees
- Annual Management Fee
- Annual Maintenance and Management Fee
- Annual Trustee Fee
- Shariah Committee Members Fee
- Fund Expenses
52Management Expense Ratio (MER)
- Management Expense (ME) Annual management fee
Annual management and maintenance fee Annual
Trustee fee Shariah fee Fund expenses - MER (ME Non-Recoverable Expenses) / (Average
Value of a REIT calculated on a daily basis) x
100 - Shariah-compliant MER? up to?
- To protect investors from high loading charges by
Islamic Reits management companies.
53Wakalah Model.
- Management Company (ie Wakil) does not bear
potential of loss (ie. risk) of investment. - Management Company is entrusted to invest the
REIT Fund in return for a Fee (ujrah). - Potential loss of investment is borned by
Unitholders. - Management Company receives fee payment (ie fees)
eventhough Unitholders are suffering capital
losses. - Nominal fees (ie absolute amount) may fall when
net asset value of REIT declined. - Percentage fee remained unchanged.
54Risk-Return Principle
- Juristic Principle (Al-Qawaid Fiqiah) -
- Al-Ghorm Bil Ghonm
- No Pain No Gain
55Al-AQAR KPJ REIT RENTAL AMOUNT The rental amount
for the financial period ending 31 December 2006
and three (3) full financial years ending 31
December 2007, 31 December 2008 and 31 December
2009 are as follows
Financial period/years ending 31 December Total rental amount per annum (RM mil) Total rental amount per month (RM mil)
2006 35.48 (US10.13m) Approx. 2.96 (US0.84m)
2007 35.70 Approx. 2.98
2008 36.43 Approx. 3.04
2009 36.96 Approx. 3.08
Note The rental rate is approximately 7.38 of
the gross market value of the Properties.
RETURN
56RISKS faced by Unitholders
- Investment by Unitholders is based on Risk-Return
Principle al-Ghornm bil Ghonm where - 1. Original investment not guaranteed
- 2. Income may rise or fall
- 3. May not receive any income at all.
57Types of Risk in Islamic REIT
- Organizational and Operational Risk
- Risk relating to investment in real estate
- Risk relating to Properties
- Shariah non-compliance risk
- Risk relating to an investments in the units
58Alternative to REIT Wakalah Model
- Unitholders and Management Company (MC)
- Al-Mudarabah
- Profit-Sharing
- MC fees portion of rental income.
- Unitholders and Trustee
- Wakalah
- To ensure MC adheres strictly to the provisions
of the Deed.
59Typical REIT structure
Unitholders
Distributions
Investment in REIT
REIT
Trustee (holds properties for the Benefit of
unitholders)
Acts on behalf of unitholders
Management fee
REIT manager
Management services
Trustees fees
Net property income
Purchase assets
Property assets
60Al-Aqar KPJ Islamic Reits
- Oversubscribed by 4.13 times
- Islamic Reits drew 5,115 non-Muslim and
non-Bumiputra investors. - Open up at RM0.99, a premium of 4.2, or 4 sen,
over its retail offer price of RM0.95 - 30,810 units done at the opening bell
- Closed at 3.5 sen up at RM0.985
- Al-Aqar REIT raised RM177.25 million
61Al-Aqar KPJ REIT Structure - MALAYSIA
Unitholders
Shariah Committee Members
Holding of units
Advise the Al-Aqar KPJ REIT on Shariah-related
matters
Distributions
Al-Aqar KPJ REIT
Acts on behalf of unitholders
Management fees
Trustee (Amanah Raya Berhad)
Manager (Damansara REIT Managers Sdn. Bhd.)
Trustees fees
Management services
Ownership of properties
Net property income
Maintenance and management fees
Maintenance manager for the properties (Healthcar
e Technical Services Sdn. Bhd.)
Rental payments
Hospital tenants
REIT properties, comprising 6 hospitals
Maintenance and management services
Rent
Note where KPJ will indirectly own 47.06 of
the units
62Al-Aqar KPJ REIT
- First Islamic Real Estate Investment Trust
(I-REIT) - Comprises of six hospitals building worth
RM461.24m or USD131.9m - Manager Damansara REIT Managers Pte.
- Lead adviser AmMerchant Bank Pte.
- Trustee Amanah Raya Pte.
- Units holdings
- KPJ 160 million units
- Institutional investors 165 million units
- Retail investors 15 million units
63Al-Aqar KPJ REIT Fees and Expenses
- Annual management Fee
- Maintenance and management fees
- Annual trustee fee
- Shariah Committee Members fee
- Others
- Auditors fees
- Valuation fees
- Relevant professional fees
- Profit payments and expenses in respect of
Islamic financing facility - Printing, posting, general and operating
expenses for the administration of the fund.
64Al-Aqar KPJ Islamic REIT
- Worlds first Islamic REIT IPOThe worlds first
Islamic real estate investment trust (I-REIT)
Al Aqar KPJ REIT IPO was launched with
AmMerchant Bank appointed as the advisor,
managing underwriter and sole placement agent. - Under the IPO, a total of 340 million units were
issued and of these, KPJ Healthcare would hold
160 million units (47), while 165 million units
would be issued to institutional investors at
US0.27 (RM1) per unit and 15 million units to
the public at US0.26 (RM0.95) each. About US49
million (RM180 million) was expected to be raised
from the IPO.
65Al-Hadharah Boustead REIT
66Al-HADHARAH BOUSTED REITS
Unitholders
Letting of Asset for rental To be paid by tenants
Boustead Properties And Other Vendors
Sale of Assets
Distribution in the form of Dividends and other
distributions
Investment in REITS
Al-Hadharah Boustead
Acts on behalf of unitholders
Management fees
CIMB Trustee
Boustead REIT Manager
Trustees fees
Management services
Advise the Al-Hadharah REIT on Shariah-related
matters
Rental Income
Ownership of properties (Vested in Trustees)
IBFIM Shariah Advisor
Monitoring the Plantation Assets
Plantation Adviser
Plantation Asets
67Bousted Al-Hadharah Islamic REITS
- Vendor sells assets to SPV (Al-Hadarah REITS).
- SPV leases back the assets to the Vendor.
- Vendor pays fixed rentals for 30 years
- Rentals passed to Unitholders as income.
- Unitholders no fixed income and capital
protection.
68CONTRACTS SPA Ijarah
- Sale and Purchase Agreement The sale and
purchase agreements between the Vendors and the
Trustee, on behalf of Al-Hadharah Bousted REIT,
in relation to the sale and purchase of the
Plantation Assets
69CONTRACTS
- Ijarah Arrangements The arrangements by
al-Hadharah Bousted REITS (AHBR)where the Trustee
on behalf of AHBR as lanlord agrees to let the
Plantation Assets to the Vendors as tenants for a
period of three years which are renewable four
times up to twelve years and thereafter renewable
for up to an additional fifteen years comprising
five additional terms of not more than threee
years each, save and except for the tenancy of
the Malay Reserved Land which are not
automatically renewable.
70Islamic REITS Structure
- The FUND Islamic REITS
- The Unit Holder
- Manager
- The Trustee
- Shariah Committee/Shariah Adviser
- The Property Assets
- Authorized Investments
71Regulatory Framework
72REITS DEFINED
- Securities Commission REITs Guidelines
-
- a trust investment vehicle that invests or
proposes to invest at least 50 of its total
assets in real estate. An investment in real
estate may be by way of direct ownership or a
shareholding in a single-purpose company whose
principle assets comprise real estate.
73REITS DEFINED
- Invests at least 50 of its total assets in real
estates - Trusts passive income vehicle
- Distributes dividends to unit-holders
- Governed by a constitution
- Cannot reinvest income as retained earnings
- Dividends are tax deductible
74REITS DEFINED
- Has a management company
- Has a trustee company
- Employs a property manager
75REITs in Asia - Qualification and Legislations
Singapore Australia Japan Malaysia Hong Kong Thailand South Korea Taiwan
Dividend yield At least 90 of taxable earnings 100 of taxable earnings At least 90 No requirement At least 90 after-tax-income At least 90 of net profit At least 90 of taxable earnings Income must be distributed within 6 months ofFYE
Tax pass through Yes Yes Yes Yes for local residents only No Yes No yes
Property transfer taxes Stamp duty waived for 5 years to 2010 None Reduced tax rates Stamp duty waived None Reduced property transfer rate property transfer rate None
Tax incentives for investors Yes Nil Nil Nil 25 withholding tax on dividend Nil Nil Nil Yes 6 withholding tax on dividend
Gearing cap Max 35 of total assets unless REIT or all borrowings rated min A No restriction, market average 38 No restriction, market average 25-45 35 of asset, unless approved by SC Max 35 of gross asset value Borrowing not permitted Borrowing not permitted No stated, but regulations prefers less than 35 of gross asset value
Investment restrictions At least 70 in real estate None At least 75 in real estate At least 75 in real estate lt10 of asset in non-income producing properties At least 75 in real estate At least 70-90 in real estate At least 75 in real estate
Development Max 20 Yes Yes, if gt50 of assets are income producing No No Properties at least 80 constructed K REIT- yes CR REIT-No No
Geographical restrictions No No No No Local only Local only No Local only, approval needed for foreign
Source DIFC, Khalid Yousef,2006
76REITs in the US..Qualification and
legislations
- REITs were formed in 1960 Congress passed
legislation providing small investors access to
income producing properties (The Real Estate
Investment Trust Act of 1960). - Benefit of REIT structure entity does not pay
corporate taxes as at least 90 of income
distributed to shareholders annually. - To qualify as REIT status, a company must meet
and maintain certain provisions. - Publicly traded REITs are SEC-registrants and
subjected various regulatory requirements.
Have a minimum of 100 shareholders
Provisions to Qualify as REITs
No more than 50 of shares can be held by 5 or
fewer
Minimum 75 of total asset invested in
properties investment
Minimum 75 of income derived from
properties/mortgages
Not more than 20 of assets can consist of shares
in TRS
Investment includes mortgage loans and shares
in other REITs
TRS Taxable REITs Subsidiary was formed by
REITs to involve in taxable ancillary businesses
such as advising clients
77 Conventional REITS Islamic REITS
1. Permissibility Not established Permissible (Halal)
2.Rental purpose No restrictions Business purposes only
3.Insurance No restrictions Takaful only
4. Activities on No restrictions Permissible activities only.
property Must not include
- financial activities based on
riba (interest)
- gambling gaming
- conventional insurance
- entertainment activities that
are not permissible according
to shariah laws
- manufacturing / sale of
tobacco-based products or
related products
- stock-broking or share trading
in shariah non-compliant
Securities
- hotels and resorts
- In incidences of mixture, for
example supermarkets, a
benchmark of 20 is allowed
for non-permissible goods of
trade
5. Financing No restrictions Funds must be shariah-
compliant
78OPERATIONAL ASPECTS
79Performance Indicators
- Management Expense Ratio (MER)
- Total Returns
- Average Annual Returns
- Distribution Yield
- Net Asset Value (NAV)
80Authorized Investments
- At least 75 of al-aqar KPJ REIT total assets
shall be investment in Shariah-compliant real
estate, single purpose companies which are
Shariah compliant, real-estate related assets or
liquid assets which are Shariah compliant - The remaining 25 of al-aqar KPJ may be invested
in other Shariah-compliant assets (ie Shariah
compliant real estate related assets, Shariah
compliant non-real estate related assets such as
Islamic asset-backed securities)
81Performance Indicators
- Management Expense Ratio (MER)
- Total Returns
- Average Annual Returns
- Distribution Yield
- Net Asset Value
82Valuation of REITshow are REIT Unit priced
REITS in Japan, US and Singapore are trading at a
premium of 70 - 230 bps compared to the
government bonds
1.53
1.3
Japan 10 yr Gov bond
Premium
200bps
of 230 bps
3.6
Japan REITs
4.54
4.2
US 10 yr Gov bond
Premium
36bps
of 70 bps
US REIT
4.9
3.27
3.2
Singapore 10 yr Gov bond
Premium
of 133bps
of 140
bps
4.6
Singapore REITs
5.20
5.4
Australian 10 yr Gov bond
Premium
of 170
of 200bps
Australian LPT
bps
7.1
4.11
3.9
Malaysian 10 yr Gov bond
Premium
of 320bps
of 340
bps
7.3
Average Malaysian REIT Yield
Yield ()
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Source Bloomberg, CIMB
Notes 1. Average 12 month gross dividend yield
of Berjaya Sports, Hap Seng Consolidated, Hong
Leong bank, Shell Refining, Nestle, Tanjong PLC,
United Plantation and YTL Power 2. Kuala Lumpur
Stock Exchange Composite Index dividend
yield 3. Kuala Lumpur Property Index dividend
yield
83Investing in REITswhy are REITs attractive to
investors?
Income stability
- REITs is typically distribute gt90 of net cash
flow - Income is underpinned by legally enforceable
lease agreements - Low leverage
- Little or no development risk
Capital stability growth
- REIT unit price is much lower than those of
general equities - Long-term unit price capital growth potential is
driven by increase in rental earnings and also by
capital appreciation of the underlying properties
- Provide institutional investors with an
alternative to direct real estate investment with
increased flexibility - Provide retail investors with an opportunity to
invest in high-value institutional quality real
estates assets that would otherwise not be
possible
Quality real estate
- Packaging illiquid real estate into liquid listed
securities that offer diversification,
transparency, expert management and regular
research coverage - Institutions receive daily mark to market value
of their investment - Low transaction costs in buying/selling REIT
units vs trading - underlying assets
- Individuals can redeem small investment quickly
by selling the units in the open market and with
little cot - REITs allow institutional funds to make
incremental investments in lumpy real estate as
and when new investment funds are received
Liquidity valuation
84Investing in REITs. (contd)
Diversification
- Diversification by types of properties, tenants
and locations
Expert Management
- Benefit from experienced, professional real
estate managers - Additional scrutiny by the trustee
Defensive
- Consistent yield-based investment has defensive
asset class characteristics - Income-generating investment grade property is a
safe haven during uncertain times
Transparency
- Subject to stringent corporate governance and
disclosure requirements - Government regulates on payout ratios, gearing,
allowable investment, etc.
Source JPMorgan, 2005
85Types of investment Risk level Expected return level
Cash Low High Low High
Fixed deposit Low High Low High
Bonds Low High Low High
REITs Low High Low High
Direct investment in real estate Low High Low High
Investment in shares Low High Low High
Financial derivative products Low High Low High
Al-Ghorm bil Ghonm
No Reward Without Risk
86REIT developments in other Asian markets
India
Philippines
- REITs are yet to be established in India, however
the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
has been finalizing a framework for Real Estate
Mutual Funds (REMFs) - The Association of Mutual Funds of India (AMFI)
issued a report to SEBI regarding the launch of
real estate investment schemes in 2002 - Regulators have been cautious on approving REMFs
due to fears or them causing excess speculation
in the real estate market
- No specific REIT regulation exists. However, the
Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) Act of 2002 has
provided for the creation of Asset Management
Companies (AMCs). SPCVs could include the
function of REITs
Indonesia
- While REITs have not been established in
Indonesia, the Indonesian Bank Restructuring
Agency (IRBA) has been considering setting REITs
up - Property companies currently provide investors
with exposure to listed real estate
China
Thailand
- PRC Trust Laws, introduced in October 2001,
provide guidance on recognition of trusts in
China - However detailed implementation rules are yet to
be released. Land laws and ownership structures
in place are capable of providing a sufficient
legal framework for REITs, however, the current
unit trust structure prohibits investment in real
estate - Some private syndicated deals have occurred in
China and there is an expectation of the market
developing further - As Chinese property companies are launched,
modern REIT structures are likely develop in
tandem on an accelerated basis
- Formal REIT guidelines are still yet to be
legislated. However, framework exists and
guidelines are in place for Property funds by the
Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) - Under the current regime, only a licensed mutual
fund management company is eligible for the
establishment and management of all types of
mutual funds including property funds - Lack of available assets remains a limitation.
Underlying residential market has been strong and
has been pushing property development stocks
higher
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