Notwithstanding the volatility of the domestic and global capital markets domestically, the Canadian REIT market has outperformed virtually all other asset classes. The opening presentation will provide a brief overview of some of the key factors that have contributed to these conditions and results over the last 12 months, both positively and negatively.
Carolyn Blair, Managing Director, RBC Capital Markets Real Estate Group
How strong is the case for investing in publicly listed real estate at this time? How extensive is the shortage of yield in today’s investment market? In light of the challenges faced by other asset classes, is real estate outperforming most vehicles offering investors steady and favourable yields? This session will examine these and other questions in-depth. Some Canadian vs. U.S. market perspectives will be addressed.
Moderator:
William Wong, Managing Director, RBC Capital Markets Real Estate Group
Panel:
Steve Carroll, Managing Director, Senior Global Portfolio Manager, CBRE Clarion Securities
Tom Dicker, Portfolio Manager, Dynamic Funds
Dennis Mitchell, CIO & Senior Portfolio Manager, Sentry Investments
Michael Smith, Managing Director, Real Estate Equity Research, Macquarie Securities Group
In Canada, retail investors are the most significant unitholders of REITs while in the United States, investors tend to more institutional. What are the reasons for this major difference? Is it because Canadian capital and institutional markets do not understand the REIT sector very well? Or is it because our largest pension funds also have real estate operating and investment platforms? But that still leaves a considerable amount of mid and smaller sized pension funds who don’t have that inhouse component. What are Canadian pension funds thinking with respect to their alternatives in the unpredictable equity markets? How do U.S. investors differ in their views from those of Canadian investors? Some of the questions that will be examined:
Moderator:
Andre Kuzmicki, Executive Director, Program in Real Estate and Infrastructure, Schulich School of Business
Panel:
William Briscoe, Managing Director & COO, Triovest Realty Advisors
Michael Latimer, Executive Vice President & CIO, OMERS
John Parsons, Managing Director, MacGregor Associates
Sharon Sallows, Director, OTPP; Trustee, RioCan REIT; Trustee, Chartwell Seniors Housing REIT
The ongoing abundance of “cheap debt” continues to be rather unprecedented. Institutional investors and many lenders have increased their allocations to commercial real estate, and retail investors have moved in as well to satisfy their search for some reasonable yield. This session will examine how REITs and REOCs are managing their balance sheets in this very competitive environment, and an understanding of the cost of capital and its impact on current market conditions. Among the questions that will be discussed:
Moderator:
Sheila Botting, Senior Practice Partner, Client Cabinet, National Leader, Deloitte Real Estate, Deloitte
Panel:
Rags Davloor, Executive Vice President & CFO, RioCan REIT
Ryan Fitzgerald, Vice President, Portfolio Management, CI Investments Inc.
Heather Kirk, Director, Real Estate Equity Research, National Bank Financial Inc.
Vlad Volodarski, Chief Financial Officer, Chartwell Seniors Housing REIT
The session will open with a brief overview of the major fundamentals of the office, industrial, retail and multi-unit residential markets across Canada. How have they been performing in the first half of 2012? What is the likely outlook for the remainder of the year? A panel discussion will then follow focusing on what are some of the most significant challenges, risks and opportunities that a REIT COO is facing in managing assets in these market conditions. The questions examined will include:
Moderator & Presenter:
Sandy McNair, President, Altus InSite
Panel:
Tom Burns, Executive Vice President & COO, Allied Properties REIT
Steve Evans, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Pure Industrial REIT
Louis Forbes, Executive Vice President & CFO, Primaris Retail REIT
Canadian senior executives used to focus primarily on domestic and to some extent U.S. economic fundamentals as a key part of evaluating risks and determining their strategy going forward. But times have now changed. A considerably growing amount of time is now focused on trying to understand geo-economic trends and macro risks which are creating greater concerns and questions about what lies ahead for the global and eventually the Canadian economies. This presentation will examine some of the current issues facing European markets, China, the United States and other tier one countries and emerging markets. What lies ahead for the remainder of this year and eventually for 2013? What implications will these trends have on the Canadian economy?
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.
Speaker:
Craig Wright, Senior Vice President & Chief Economist, Royal Bank of Canada
The session will open with a brief overview comparing the size, performance and various global REIT markets to Canada. What new REIT markets have emerged since last year’s RealREIT conference? Which Canadian REITs are now investing outside of Canada? A panel discussion will then follow with REIT executives and global portfolio managers.
Moderator:
Tom Rothfischer, GTA Real Estate Practice Leader, Partner, KPMG LLP
Panel:
Stéphane Larsen, Portfolio Manager, Europe, Presima Inc.
Karine MacIndoe, Managing Director, Real Estate/REIT Analyst, Equity Research, BMO Capital Markets
Doug Quesnel, Chief Financial Officer, Dundee International REIT
Corrado Russo, Managing Director, Real Estate Securities, Timbercreek Asset Management
One of the questions facing public real estate companies is whether new development is an appropriate strategic means for growth. On the one hand, significant cap rate compression and the lack of good quality assets for sale make it difficult for them to use an acquisition program to grow. On the other side, market and political forces are fostering urbanization, intensification and new development. This panel will examine these questions in greater detail to determine to what extent REITs and REOCs should pursue development strategies.
Moderator:
Glenn Hynes, CFO & Secretary, Crombie REIT
Panel:
Michael Markidis, Vice President, Global Research, RBC Capital Markets
Armin Martens, President & CEO, Artis REIT
Jordan Robins, Senior Vice President, Planning & Development, RioCan REIT
Stephen Taylor, President & COO, Morguard Investments Limited
A wide ranging discussion among portfolio managers and real estate analysts on issues and trends that they see evolving within Canadian public real estate companies.
Moderator:
Stephen Sender, Managing Director, Industry Head, Real Estate, Global Investment Banking, Scotiabank
Panel:
Anish Chopra, Managing Director & Portfolio Manager, TD Asset Management
Bill Crow, Managing Director, Real Estate Equity Research, Raymond James & Associates
Andrew Moffs, President & Portfolio Manager, SRE Securities Canada Inc.
Andrew Nasr, Executive Director, Portfolio Manager, Middlefield Capital Corporation
An insightful examination of challenges, trends and issues facing Canadian REITs and REOCs, and what CEOs and senior investors are doing as they continue to face the turbulent environment of the past few years. The following are some of the questions that will be examined:
Moderator:
Jan Sucharda, President & CEO, Brookfield Canada Office Properties
Panel:
Michael Cooper, Vice Chairman & CEO, Dundee REIT
Neil Downey, Managing Director & Real Estate Analyst, RBC Capital Markets
Michael Emory, President & CEO, Allied Properties REIT
Tom Schwartz, President & CEO, CAPREIT
Edward Sonshine, Chief Executive Officer, RioCan REIT