Keppel DC Reit tops first governance index for Reits and trusts

KEPPEL DC Reit, Parkway Life Reit, Soilbuild Business Space Reit, AIMS AMP Capital Industrial Reit and Starhill Global Reit have emerged tops - in that order - in the first-ever published corporate governance rankings for real estate investment trusts (Reits) and business trusts (BTs) here.

The Governance Index For Trusts (GIFT), unveiled on Thursday morning, represents the first time that such comprehensive scoring has been published for the 45 Reits and BTs listed in Singapore.

The index was developed by well-known corporate governance advocate Mak Yuen Teen - who first developed the Governance and Transparency Index (GTI) and the Governance Evaluation for Mid- and Small-Caps (GEMS) - in collaboration with active investor Chew Yi Hong, and with the support of professional body CPA Australia.

Assoc Prof Mak explained that the index was developed specifically for listed Reits and BTs, and recognises their unique features as compared to listed companies. "Existing governance indices in the Singapore landscape exclude this important group of issuers because their governance structures and practices, and applicable rules and regulations, are different from companies."

The full index and a report summarising the key findings are available at www.governanceforstakeholders.com.

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