ESR LOGOS REIT

[Dosser]

I hold units in both trusts. Both trusts have shown a trend of reducing dividends per unit over many years. I now tend to treat them more as a trading opportunity than as a steady source of dividends in retirement, which was my original intent. Relatively simple - buy some when the market is bad and the yield is high, sell some when the market is stronger and the yield is relatively low, while applying for rights and excess rights when there is a heavily discounted rights issue.

Hi Dosser,

I guess if you look at both trusts, they share a common issue. That is, changing shareholders at sponsor level throughout the years. Example ARA Logos Trust. Started with CWT, HNA, ARA and then ARA Logos etc. ESR Reit also evolved a few times from the previous Cambridge Industrial Reit.

With an unstable shareholder structure at sponsor level, it flows down to the trust level and you have made your observations on reducing DPU throughout the years. This also contributed to the volatility of the trusts, making them easy targets for traders who wished to benefit from their unit price movements.

I guess smaller trusts listed on SGX should not be treated as buy and hold income instruments. Rather, they have to be classified as higher risk yield plays, similar to high yield bonds. While there is no right or wrong answers, your approach looks sound to me, but it requires a more active approach in managing those trusts. Which is not for everyone, especially those who prefer a more passive approach.

ghchua,

I agree with your analysis. However, the market moves in broad cycles so the need for monitoring and trading is very limited. I will check for changes in DPU and rights issues via the company statements on SGX web site. The dates for the quarterly statements can be roughly estimated from the previous year, and rights are flagged up in the media anyway. Major changes in ownership, either of the trust or assets are also flagged up in the media with details in the relevant company announcements. Yield is easy to calculate but can also make reference to REITDATA site. Monitoring is therefore nothing more than the minimum any shareholder/unit holder does (should do?) anyway to track company/trust performance. My trading is infrequent because of the broad market cycles, maybe a year or two between tending to buy and tending to sell. So, while it is not entirely passive, it is not day trading either.