Mapletree Industrial Trust banks on diversification, balance to deliver sustainable returns

[SINGAPORE] Diversification and balance are at the left, right, and centre of Mapletree Industrial Trust ’s (MIT) strategy.

At its initial public offering in 2010, the real estate investment trust’s (Reit) entire S$2.1 billion assets under management (AUM) was in Singapore industrial properties such as flatted factories, business-park buildings, ramp-up buildings and light industrial properties. As at Dec 31, 2024, only 44.1 per cent of the trust’s S$9.2 billion AUM was in Singapore industrial properties. The other 55.9 per cent was in 62 data centres (55 in the United States, one in Canada, two in Japan and four in Singapore).

“Generally for the data centre market as a whole, the demand is definitely there and is definitely growing – with all the usage of AI (artificial intelligence), machine learning, edge computing, etc,” said Lily Ler, the chief executive officer of the manager of MIT.