Arthur Hurley, senior equity portfolio manager at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, joined Nareit for a video interview at REITworld 2017.
Hurley commented on the creation of a headline Real Estate Sector under the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) for REITs and other listed real estate companies. He noted that the move has generated a lot more attention for the group from a broader investor base. REIT CEOs, CFOs and investor relations professionals should keep that broader audience in mind as they craft their messages, Hurley said.
Turning to individual REIT sectors, Hurley said he favors single-family rental REITs and manufactured home REITs. Both sectors benefit from a lack of appropriately priced residential housing stock, according to Hurley. Home ownership rates in the United States also remain low, he noted. In addition, they are still in the early stages of benefitting from the scale they have created within a fragmented market, he explained.
Meanwhile, Hurley said 2018 will likely continue to show a large difference in performance between various REIT property types. As a result, “we’ll see a reemergence of active management,” he added.