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PROGRAM
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Click Here to Download the Presenter Biographies
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Platinum Sponsor |
National Green Sponsor |
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Gold Sponsors |
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| 7:15 am | REGISTRATION & CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST |
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| 8:00 am | WELCOME & OPENING REMARKS | |
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Conference Co-Chairmen: Neil Downey, Managing Director & Real Estate Analyst, RBC Capital Markets Simon Nyilassy, President & CEO, Calloway REIT |
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| 8:05 am | OVERVIEW PRESENTATIONS |
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| GLOBAL REIT & REAL ESTATE MARKET TRENDS: WHAT GOES DOWN MUST COME UP | ||
A brief quantitative examination of how
public real estate companies and major property markets have performed
over the past year. Who is up, who is down, how much, and why? The
presentation will be provided by the managers of the EPRA NAREIT FTSE
Global Indices. 
Fraser Hughes, Research Director, European Public Real Estate Association |
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| HOW IS CANADIAN SECURITIZED REAL ESTATE PERFORMING? | ||
| A comparative look at the key trends
among the REITs and REOCs in Canada, and how they are performing
compared with Australia, the United States and other advanced
securitized markets. William Wong, Managing Director, RBC Capital Markets Real Estate Group |
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| 8:40 am | THE GLOBAL PANEL: REIT ISSUES AND PROSPECTS AROUND THE WORLD | |
 A qualitative review of global property and REIT markets, by a panel of industry association leaders. What are the local pressures on the REIT structure? How are governments responding to debt scarcity and illiquidity? Have they been successful? Have underlying property markets turned? Which countries are contemplating a new REIT vehicle? What are the issues facing this global vehicle moving forward? How has the buy side responded? What structural REIT changes are afoot? How significant has been the de-levering and right-sizing of balance sheets? Moderator: Michael Brooks, CEO, Real Property Association of Canada Panel: Philip Charls, CEO, European Public Real Estate Association Tatsuo Ichii, Secretary General, The Association for Real Estate Securitization (Japan) Liz Peace, Chief Executive Officer, British Property Federation Steven Wechsler, President & CEO, National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts |
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| 9:50 am | REFRESHMENTS |
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| 10:15 am | CANADIAN MARKET FUNDAMENTALS AND PROPERTY VALUES: WHERE ARE WE IN THE CYCLE? | |
An overview presentation providing
some insights on the principal fundamentals of the Canadian real estate
market and how property values have faired in 2009. Among the questions
that will be addressed:
Sandy McNair, President, Altus InSite |
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| 10:45 am | WHO ARE THE INVESTORS NOW AND WHAT ARE THEIR EXPECTATIONS? IMPROVED BALANCE SHEETS? LOWER PAY-OUT RATIOS? NONE OF THE ABOVE? | |
North American interest rates appear
to have bottomed out as fears of inflation start as a result of
accelerating energy and commodity prices, and record high government
debt. Housing markets across Canada appear to have leveled off.
Notwithstanding an uptrend since March, volatility continues in the
equity markets. And the cost of capital has changed with the repricing
of risk.
Against this backdrop, how are REITs and REOCs performing? What is the
case for investing in securitized real estate at this time?
Moderator: |
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| 11:45 am | CONCURRENT SESSIONS (Select A1 or A2) | |
| SESSION A1 HOW MUCH LIQUIDITY HAS RETURNED TO THE PROPERTY MARKET? WHAT ARE THE OPPORTUNITIES, RISKS AND RETURNS GOING FORWARD? |
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 An insightful discussion on the issues related to investment activity in today’s market environment. The panel will address a range of questions including:
Moderator: |
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| SESSION A2 PURE PLAY VS. DIVERSIFIED PLAY? STRATEGIES TO GROW YOUR REIT OR REOC IN THIS MARKET |
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| All REITs and REOCs are not created
equally. Some are considered to be “value creators” while others would
be deemed to be “financial engineers”. Some are a “pure play” with a
strong focus and competitive positioning while others are a “diversified
play” operating in the deepest part of the stream and growing more
rapidly. Some have a mandate to build a real estate investment vehicle,
while others are creating development and operating platforms. This
panel will discuss and debate some of the challenges, risks and rewards
of some of these various strategic options. How is Alberta faring in the
face of the soft natural gas prices and the overbuilt housing and office
markets? How will the stresses of the manufacturing sector ripple
through REITs and REOCs? How have the retail and industrial markets
fared in the current economy? Should REITs and REOCs be more diversified
in order to grow in this market?
Moderator: |
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| 12:45 pm | INFORMAL
LUNCHEON |
LUNCHEON REFRESHMENTS |
| 1:40 pm | ECONOMIC OUTLOOK FOR 2010: HOW CLOSE IS THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL? | |
| An insightful examination of key trends
in the North American economy with a specific view towards their future
direction over the short and medium terms, including the outlook for GDP
growth, interest rates, energy and commodity prices, the value of the
Canadian dollar, and the rate of inflation. How will the recovery
materialize over the next twelve months? What impact will weak
manufacturing conditions have on employment growth? What will be the key
indicators that we will be able to see the light at the end of the
tunnel? Using a wireless survey, the audience will be polled for their predictions prior to the presentation. You will have an opportunity to compare your thinking with the expert’s views.
Patricia Croft, Chief Economist, RBC Global Asset Management |
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| 2:15 pm | CONCURRENT SESSIONS (Select B1 or B2) | |
| SESSION B1 BEST PRACTICES VS. EASY PRACTICES: WHAT ARE THE MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GAAP AND IFRS? WHAT ARE THE MOST EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE METRICS? |
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| The year 2011 has a double meaning to
REITs as the deadline for SIFT rule compliance as well as the date for
Canadian transition to the same accounting standards that are being used
by publicly accountable enterprises in the EU and many other countries
around the world. International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are
being promoted as a single set of high quality, understandable and
enforceable global standards. This panel discussion on "best practices vs. easy practices" will begin by examining the major differences between current GAAP rules and IFRS, and what investors should or could expect in the future. Consider the current differences between United States which looks exclusively at U.S. GAAP reporting entities, while European, Asian and Australian teams and investors look at IFRS. Is disclosure better under IFRS? What are the different metrics used elsewhere? What will be significantly different for a Canadian REIT in an IFRS world? Moderator: Tom Rothfischer, Partner, KPMG LLP Panel: Paul Miatello, CFO, Morguard Corporation James Miles, Vice President, Finance & CFO, Homburg Invest Inc. Dennis Mitchell, Portfolio Manager, Sentry Select Capital Corporation Shant Poladian, Real Estate/REIT Analyst, Canaccord Adams |
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| SESSION B2 FINANCING STRATEGIES: HOW REITS AND REOCS ARE FACILITATING DEAL FLOW AND CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS IN A TOUGH MARKET? |
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| According to a recent study, Canadian
REITs and REOCs continue to have good access to conventional mortgages
and a select few have had encouraging access to the unsecured debenture
market despite tightening credit markets and challenging economic
conditions. DBRS attributes this access to the debt markets on the
relativity strong and solvent Canadian banking system, which has filled
some of the void left by pension funds, insurance companies and foreign
institutional lenders. Most REITs and REOCs are also well capitalized,
have balanced debt maturity profiles and generally have high-quality
assets, which are easier to refinance. To what extent are the results of this study correct? How are REITs and REOCs allocating their capital? How are they financing their activities? How much has the repricing of risk affected the cost and supply of debt financing? What are appropriate levels of debt for REITs? What is the challenge of refinancing maturing debt in this market? Is the nature of a REIT’s debt key to its success? Are declining payout ratios a good thing or not? What is the ability of a public real estate company to issue new equity? What are the challenges of non-accretive deals and the impact of SIFT rules on financing? Since the cost of capital has clearly increased, should REITs bring down their distribution pay-out ratio to a more conservative level? What are some examples of creative financing that REITs and RECOs have used to raise capital in this market? Moderator: Sam Damiani, Vice President & Director, Real Estate & Lodging Equity Research, TD Newcrest Panel: Mario Barrafato, Senior Vice President & CFO, Dundee REIT Ciro DeCiantis, Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP Paul Holman, Managing Director, Real Estate, DBRS Limited Pat Koval, Partner, Torys LLP Darren Latoski, President, Sunstone Realty Advisors |
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| 3:10 pm | AFTERNOON REFRESHMENTS | |
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| 3:15 pm | THINKING STRATEGICALLY: HOW ARE REITS AND REOCS GROWING IN THE CURRENT MARKET ENVIRONMENT? WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD? | |
 An insightful examination of challenges, trends and issues facing Canadian REITs and REOCs, and how senior executives are responding in this rather unpredictable and occasionally turbulent environment.
Moderator: |
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| 4:15 pm | ADJOURNMENT | |
