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LaSalle says to enter Taiwan via tie-up with Taishin
Real estate news By Reuters
Tue Oct 23, 2007 7:20am ET
Global real estate investment firm LaSalle Investment Management said on Tuesday it will enter the Taiwan market by advising a new fund to be launched by Taishin Investment Trust. LaSalle, a member of the Jones Lang LaSalle Group (JLL.N: Quote, Profile , Research), will be the overseas adviser of the real estate investment trust (REIT) fund, Todd Canter, a managing director of the firm, told reporters.
"We believe there is a strong opportunity for this sector," he said, adding that the fund would invest in global REITs. "Historically, global property stocks are traded at an 8 percent premium. Today, they are traded at a 3 percent discount," partly because of the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis, said Canter. REITs, which pay most of their rent as dividends, have caught on across Asia in the past five years because they have offered a steady yield and the prospect of capital growth as property values and rents have risen.
REITs gained popularity among institutional investors such as pension funds and insurers because of their reliable returns. Foreign property service advisers are upbeat about Taiwan's booming commercial real estate sector, which British adviser Savills Plc (SVS.L: Quote, Profile , Research) has estimated would double to T$120 billion this year from a year ago.
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