Does anyone have an investment policy specific to Reit's that they might share?
Answers
Investment policy appropriately embraces multiple considerations:
1 Return Objectives: overall return and
2 Scale: what can/should be considered differs by size/amount of funds
3 Investor Status: individual vs. institutional, taxable vs.
4 Legal Form: pass through vs. taxable entities...S-Corp/Partnership/etc vs. C-Corp, recognizing REIT is modified pass through entity, requiring compliance with specific provisions concerning shareholder composition and income distribution
5 Registration Status: public vs. private, reporting requirements, accessibility of information inform private/proprietary vs. public/transparent info implications
6 Organizing Documents: specification of what can be considered/allowed and what may be prohibited
7 Decision Process: who involved, informed, authorized to act...procedures - formal/informal - re documentation and commitment...flexible/responsive vs. deliberative/scheduled...entrepeneurial vs. bureaucratic
8 Organization Capability: what might be appropriate for one organization may be inappropriate for another
An investment policy would contain policy statements re elements of the investment program that might include the following:
1 Asset class
2 Sector/industry classifications...property types
3 Places/geography: which allowed and/or specified attributes of markets
4 Property attributes
5 Property age
6 Property condition
7 Property scale
8 Strategy emphasis: passive/active, value creation path: hold and operate, improve, develop
9 Financing: leverage and attributes of loan terms
10 Duration of involvements
11 Managment relationships
12 Tenancy and occupancy
13 Valuation and pricing metrics
For each of these elements policies are articulated specifying objectives/requirements/prohibitions. These may be general/aspirational or precise/specific; qualitative or quantitative; minimums and maximums; absolute or subject to judgement; restrictive/limiting or flexible/expansive.
As the above suggests, there is no valid, universal 'one-size-fits-all' investment policy for REITs. Investment policy should be crafted for and customized to the specific situation.