OREANDA-NEWS. Singapore Exchange (SGX) and the REIT Association of Singapore (REITAS) have launched an initiative to educate the public on REITs and stapled trusts.

Delivered through SGX Academy and REITAS, this initiative comprises roadshows and monthly workshops. Participants will meet REITs managers to learn about the various types of REITs, how they are structured and managed, with a focus on generating steady income and long-term capital growth for unit holders. This will be complemented by the launch of online education materials by June 2015. Around 20,000 investors are expected to benefit from this initiative.

The first of the monthly SGX-REITAS Workshops will take place on Saturday, 24 January 2015. This will be followed by SGX’s “My First Stock Carnival” from 6-8 Feb 2015, where REITs will be among the featured securities.

Sonny Tan, CEO of REITAS, said: “REITs is an investment alternative that may not have been well understood by the general public. It offers Singaporeans easy access to a whole range of investment properties internationally that gives steady payout, and come with the advantages of liquidity and portfolio diversification in terms of location of the properties, and the types of properties (such as retail, commercial, industrial, hospitality) one can choose to invest in. REITAS aims to work with SGX to explain to investors why it makes much sense to include REITs in one’s savings basket.” 

Lynn Gaspar, Head of Retail Investors, SGX, said, “REITs give retail investors access to property investments and typically provide steady income and long-term capital growth. The 28 REITs and 6 stapled trusts generated an average total return of 13% in 2014, with an average dividend yield of over 6%, making REITs a very attractive asset class. This partnership with REITAS will give retail investors more confidence in investing in REITs.”