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Asia Pacific REITs Outshine Equities in September

Asia Pacific REITs Outshine Equities in September 

Australia REITs Led Declines in Asia Pacific on Victoria Lockdown; Taiwan Climbs

By Patrick Ma, Director, Listed Products and Research

October 5, 2020 – Asia Pacific’s top-100 most-traded REITs outperformed their equity counterparts in September as stock markets around the world fell during the month. Despite a downward trend with a decline of 1.5% in September, equities performed worse with a 2.2% drop.

Most countries’ REIT sector outperformed their respective equity market, except for Japan, where the country’s REITs saw a 0.6% drop, underperforming the country’s equity market, which returned 1.1%.

Large REITs such as Nippon Building Fund and Japan Real Estate Investment led the fall. Australia REITs, meanwhile, were the worst performers in the region with a 4% decline. The dismal performance was led by major retail REITs such as Scentre Group and Vicinity Centres, on concerns about the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and especially from the Victoria lockdown. 

Fraser Centrepoint dropped 5%, Maple Industrial Trust Up 5%

In Singapore, Fraser Centrepoint Trust dropped 5% this month. The REIT announced an SG$1.33 billion equity fundraising at SG$2.34 (US$1.71) per unit, a 7% discount a previous close on September 25, to finance the acquisition of the remaining 63% stake in Asia Retail Fund (a portfolio of Singapore suburban malls) from its sponsor Frasers Property. On the other hand, Mapletree Industrial Trust rose 5% this month, as the REIT announced another US$204 million acquisition of US data centres.

Looking forward, the global capital market is expected to enter a volatile period as investors focused on the US presidential election and the uncertainty of its outcome. While China’s economy has continued to rebound from COVID-19 pandemic lows, there have not been strong spill-over effects to the other economies in the Asia Pacific region, and challenges for a strong recovery in 2021 will remain. Against an uncertain geopolitical and economic backdrop, Asia Pacific REITs will continue to be attractive as defensive plays.

REIT Index Corresponding equity index

Sep 2020 YTD-2020
Sep 2020 YTD-2020
GPR 250 REIT Index  -3.2% -19.6% MSCI WORLD -3.4% 2.1%
GPR Aprea Investable REIT 100 Index -1.5% -13.1% MSCI AC ASIA PACIFIC -2.2% 0.7%
GPR Aprea Investable REIT Australia -4.0% -16.9% MSCI Australia -6.8% -11.4%
GPR Aprea Investable REIT Japan -0.6% -14.3% MSCI Japan 1.1% -0.3%
GPR Aprea Investable REIT Singapore -0.2% -5.7% MSCI Singapore -3.1% -22.1%
GPR Aprea Composite REIT Index Hong Kong -2.1% -22.5% MSCI Hong Kong -5.1% -8.3%
Based on market close at September 30, 2020




All performance numbers are based on total gross returns in USD




Sources: GPR and Bloomberg