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Ling’s picks in this sector are Ascott Residence Trust (ART) and CDL Hospitality Trust (CDLHT). In addition, Ling notes that the retail REITs sector is trading at attractive valuations and a robust 2-year distribution per unit (DPU) growth of 13%. “We like Lendlease Global Commercial REIT (LREIT) in the SMC space among the Singapore landlords and CapitaLand Retail China Trust (CRCT), a premier China proxy.” Mergers and acquisitions
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Potential targets in the tech space include Spindex, Fu Yu and Valuetronics; while on REITs: AIMS APAC; Delfi; QAF; Yangzijiang; Hutchison Port Holdings Trust (HPH Trust); and China Aviation Oil (CAO). New technologies The technology sector was the best performing sector in 2020, up 8.1% while all other sectors, other than healthcare, were in negative territory. The sector lost some lustre and underperformed the broader market in the last few months as vaccine news led to profit-taking of technology stocks into cyclical and value plays, says Ling. However, despite the rotational shift, tech stocks remained resilient.
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Steady earnings growth Finally, Ling highlights companies with steady earnings growth and clear catalysts to sustain firm growth momentum ahead. SMC stocks in this space include iFAST Corporation, Delfi, First Resources and Bumitama Agri. “We see opportunities to position into companies that are on the cusp of an earnings turnaround. Koufu, CAO and HPHT are in this space, while Tuan Sing is an undervalued property play,” she says.