S-Reits' growth lies in foreign asset acquisitions: Aprea

Singapore

DESPITE the absence of new Singapore real estate investment trust (S-Reit) listings of late, John Lim, chairman of the Asia Pacific Real Assets Association (Aprea), is not worried. He believes that the answer to growing the S-Reit sector is not by amassing more Reits, but by relaxing taxes and regulations to allow the big boys to make overseas acquisitions more easily.

He foresees that with each regional market doubling down to building its own Reit regime, cross-border foreign Reit listings will become less relevant, as investing in them also carries asset, political and foreign exchange risks. Mr Lim, who is also co-founder and deputy chairman of ARA Asset Management, said this at an Aprea briefing to announce the rebranding of the association, whose acronyms used to stand for Asia-Pacific Real Estate Association.