There's no place like home for risk-averse investors

SINGAPORE (July 23): A recent report by Soochow CSSD Capital Markets (SCCM) points out that investors are concerned about locally listed real estate investment trusts (REITs) expanding into Europe. For instance, although Frasers Logistics and Industrial Trust has assets in Australia that are viewed as very stable, it acquired a platform and portfolio in the Netherlands and Germany, which are in the midst of the brewing trade war between the EU and the US that could dampen demand for warehouses. 

“Investors are raising doubts on [Singapore REITs’] expansion of their investment mandate to Europe, citing lack of established platform for some names (such as Ascendas REIT, Capi­taLand Commercial Trust [CCT]) and lack of scope to accumulate portfolios with scale. Investors prefer large-cap S-REITs to remain as pure Singapore plays,” SCCM says.