Pivoting to promising segments an increasingly important growth driver for Reits

CAPITAMALL Trust (CMT) became Singapore's first listed real estate investment trust (Reit) in July 2002. In its first five full years as a listed entity, DPU rose 66 per cent between 2003 and 2007 or a compound annual growth rate of nearly 14 per cent. Acquisitions and asset enhancements were the two most important drivers of DPU growth for CMT in its early years.

In recent times, as digitalisation and the Covid-19 pandemic dim prospects of certain property types and create demand in other areas, pivoting a portfolio to a new asset class has become an increasingly vital growth driver for Reits.

Mapletree Industrial Trust (MIT) is a prime example of a Reit that has successfully pivoted by embracing a new class of assets in data centres.