Brussels, June 09, 2016: Europe’s listed real estate benchmark reached the 100 constituents milestone in early June and has passed the €200 billion market capitalisation level, as global investors target strong yields in the sector and a performance that produced a total return of 18.8% in 2015, the European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA) said.
WCM, the German office and retail real estate investor and Regional REIT, which invests in regional offices and light industrial properties in the UK outside of London, were accepted for inclusion in the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Europe Index, taking the benchmark to 100 constituent companies for the first time.
Philip Charls, EPRA CEO, said: “The market is growing fast as global investors increasingly seek solid income investments as an alternative to record low yields in fixed income. Listed real estate provides this alternative with the added advantages of liquidity and a performance that mirrors that of the underlying property assets in the long-term.”
In order to qualify for inclusion in the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Europe Index WCM and regional REIT had to pass the EUR 203.78 million free float market capitalisation and EPRA liquidity criteria (Companies need to have a free float market cap of 0.10% of the total Developed Europe Index market cap at the cut-off date for the EPRA quarterly index review).
Stavros Efremidis, CEO of WCM said: “WCM’s entry into the EPRA Index is a recognition of the strong growth in our portfolio over the past 18 months and follows the company’s accession to Germany’s SDAX Index at the end of 2015. It also demonstrates the transparency in our corporate reporting, which is very important for any successful listed real estate company and critical for WCM’s investors across Europe and the U.S.”
Stephen Inglis, Group Property Director and CIO of asset manager Regional REIT Limited, said: “We are delighted for Regional REIT to be part of the FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Index series from June 20th because it provides the company with access to a much broader base of potential investors. It will allow our successful growth story to reach a wider audience.”