In a joint webinar hosted by the European Real Estate Association (EPRA), panellists from Gravis, Janus Henderson Investors and Tritax Big Box REIT made the case for listed real estate as a source of resilient, growing income and long-term total returns.
Matthew Fletcher, Director of European Investor Outreach at EPRA, Matthew Norris, Head of Real Estate Securities at Gravis, Guy Barnard, Co-Head Global Property Equities at Janus Henderson Investors and Colin Godfrey, CEO at Tritax Big Box REIT, discussed how specialist listed real estate companies can provide exposure to structural growth themes, inflation-linked income and operational real estate assets that support the modern economy.
You can watch the replay or read the key takeaways below
Matthew Fletcher: “We're talking about businesses that house the economy, that build the future, and are uncorrelated to other equities within your clients' investment portfolios.”
The case for listed real estate: UK and global perspectives
Listed real estate offers “growth income”, not fixed income
A central theme throughout the discussion was the distinction between listed real estate income and fixed income.
Matthew Fletcher highlighted that UK listed real estate currently offers dividend yields around and above 5%, with the potential for meaningful compounded income growth through dividend reinvestment over time.
Matthew Norris stressed that listed real estate should not be viewed in the same way as bonds or open-ended property funds. Instead, he described the sector as “growth income”, where investors can benefit from both attractive starting yields and dividend growth that has historically exceeded inflation.
Guy Bernard added that dividend income has historically represented around two-thirds of global REIT total returns, while Colin Godfrey emphasised the importance of focusing on total return rather than yield alone.
Matthew Norris: “It’s not just about the yield, it’s about the growth in yield.”
Structural themes are reshaping the opportunity set
The speakers highlighted how specialist REITs now provide exposure to long-term structural trends across the economy.
Gravis focuses on four key themes within UK listed real estate:
- Ageing populations, through GP surgeries and care homes
- Digitalisation, including logistics and data centres
- Generation Rent, through student accommodation and build-to-rent
- Urbanisation, with a focus on prime, sustainable offices
Guy Bernard highlighted similar opportunities globally, particularly in the US market, including senior housing and data centres. He pointed to constrained supply and rising demographic demand as major drivers of earnings growth in sectors such as senior housing.
Across the discussion, data centres, logistics and operational real estate assets were repeatedly identified as areas benefiting from powerful long-term demand drivers.
Valuations remain attractive
A recurring message from all three speakers was that listed real estate valuations remain compelling.
Matthew Norris argued that UK REITs are trading at a wide discount to the value of their underlying assets, creating opportunities for investors to capture both growing income and potential upside through valuation recovery or M&A activity.
He noted that Gravis estimates UK REITs currently trade at around a 30% discount, and historically, periods of extreme discounts have led to strong subsequent returns.
Guy Bernard added that global REITs are trading at substantial discounts to underlying real estate values and, in many cases, at 20-year-plus lows on earnings multiples relative to wider equity markets.
Colin Godfrey described the current environment as “a really great entry point”, particularly for quality UK REITs with embedded growth opportunities.
Colin Godfrey: “It's not difficult to see your way to double-digit total returns really with it without really breaking sweat. And that's what I want as an investor.”
Supply constraints are supporting earnings growth
Both Guy Bernard and Colin Godfrey highlighted constrained supply as a key driver of future earnings growth.
Guy Bernard noted that development activity slowed sharply following the inflation and interest rate shocks of 2022–23, reducing future supply across many real estate sectors.
Colin Godfrey explained that logistics and data centre development in the UK faces significant barriers to entry, including land availability, planning constraints and power infrastructure limitations.
The panellists argued that constrained supply, combined with structurally growing demand, should support rental growth and pricing power for landlords over the medium term.
Guy Bernard: “We see increasing opportunities for a period of sustained earnings and dividend growth.”
Operational real estate and active management are increasingly important
Another key theme was the importance of operational expertise and active management.
Matthew Norris highlighted the growth of “branded real estate” and owner-operator models, while Guy Bernard pointed to the value of scale and operational platforms within global REIT markets.
Colin Godfrey explained how Tritax combines long-income assets with active asset management, logistics development and data centre development to drive earnings growth.
The discussion also touched on the ongoing evolution of the listed real estate market towards larger, more specialised companies with deeper operational expertise.
Global listed real estate enhances diversification
Guy Bernard made the case for global listed real estate as a diversifier within broader portfolios.
He highlighted the geographic and sector diversification available through global REITs, particularly the greater exposure to alternative sectors such as healthcare and data centres compared with traditional UK property allocations.
He also noted that global REITs currently offer low correlation to technology stocks despite benefiting from many of the same structural growth themes.
The outlook: income growth and long-term expansion
Looking ahead, all three speakers expressed optimism about the medium- to long-term outlook for listed real estate.
Matthew Norris expects specialist UK REITs to continue delivering growing income while benefiting from valuation recovery.
Guy Bernard believes the sector is moving towards greater focus on shareholder returns, operational excellence and scale.
Colin Godfrey outlined Tritax Big Box REIT’s ambition to grow adjusted earnings by 50% by 2030, supported by rental reversion, logistics development and data centre opportunities.
The webinar concluded with Matthew Fletcher reiterating that listed real estate can provide investors with access to operational assets, active management and growing income through a range of approaches including UK strategies, global portfolios and specialist listed companies.
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