Why U.S. REITs are attractive

Since 2015, REITs have been a solid investment due to their strong performance.

So says Jennifer Law, portfolio manager and vice-president of Canadian small cap equities at CIBC Asset Management. “We are overweight in financials, but most of that comes from REITs.”

Currently, about half of her financials exposure is in that space because REITs are long-dated assets. And, she says, “We’ve tilted our exposure to U.S. dollar-based and U.S.-based properties.”

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Her holdings include names such as WPT Industrial, Milestone Apartments and Tricon Capital. “These companies have the majority of their assets in the U.S.,” which means she’s benefiting from asset increases as well as the currency exchange.

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She also invests in U.S.-based names such as First American Financial, which is a title insurance company that helps close both consumer and commercial transactions. Law says, “It operates in a healthier pocket in the market. We also have exposure to regional banks in America and to specialty insurance companies; these should offer some diversification.”

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