SSS pushed P300 million into REITs in Q4

Government-run pension funds like SSS and GSIS have significant PSE portfolios, and it is possible to track changes in these portfolios over time using the Top 100 Shareholder disclosures released quarterly by each company. Using that data, Ely Paclibar (Your REIT Buddy) computed the change in holdings for both funds across all eight of the PSE’s REIT stocks, and I used that data to come up with a few interesting observations: 

• Both funds have significant REIT holdings, but only SSS was active in Q4. GSIS did not buy or sell any REITs in that quarter, while SSS pushed an additional P297 million into the sector across six different REITs (everything except VREIT and PREIT).
   
• AREIT was the top recipient of new investment by value, with SSS buying an additional P93 million worth of AREIT in Q4 (as measured by AREIT’s closing price from yesterday). This was followed closely by MREIT (?80 million) and FILRT (P80 million).
   
• The biggest change in relative holding was with the SSS’s stake in CREIT, which jumped nearly 96% in Q4 to 6,195,500 shares, followed by the SSS’s stake in FILRT, which jumped 22.5% to 63,924,500 shares.
   
• Neither government-run pension fund holds any PREIT shares; PREIT is the only REIT to not receive any investment from one of the funds.
   
• Added together (GSIS+SSS), AREIT is the largest holding by value at P6.2 billion, followed by MREIT at P4.3 billion. The next closest REIT is RCR at P0.7 billion.
   
• Of all the REITs that have received GSIS/SSS investment, CREIT is the smallest by value at an aggregate holding of P16.7 million.

MB bottom-line: As noted by Mr. Paclibar, the bias here is toward commercial office REITs. The power REITs (CREIT and PREIT) are notably underrepresented, despite both ranking in the top half of REITs as measured on a total return (price increase plus dividend) basis (CREIT is #2 at +20.1% and PREIT is #4 at +10.3%). I was surprised to see SSS jump in so heavily to FILRT in Q4 despite the eroding dividend (let’s see how that works out once that Q4 div is declared). I was also surprised to see the aggregate holdings so skewed toward just AREIT and MREIT. I get the focus on AREIT, but I have to be honest MREIT was a bit of a surprise. Both of those REITs have well-documented growth plans, but MREIT as a stock is down 12.3% from its IPO and is barely above break-even on a total return basis (+1.4%). 

--

Merkado Barkada is a free daily newsletter on the PSE, investing and business in the Philippines. You can subscribe to the newsletter or follow on Twitter to receive the full daily updates.

Merkado Barkada's opinions are provided for informational purposes only, and should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any particular stock. These daily articles are not updated with new information, so each investor must do his or her own due diligence before trading, as the facts and figures in each particular article may have changed.