Hi

Can anyone recommend which Malaysian listed REIT funds are good or having a better property portfolio under their stable?

Thanks

what is a REIT. always in newspaper but no-one ever explain. is it good investment.

REIT is an investment fund which buys property. wht makes a reit different to a normal fund is that reit must give most of rental profit to fund investors (ie cannot re-invest it all) and must also not take out too much financing. so it's quite safe. the benefit of reit over a normal fund is that it is not double-taxed like most property funds. a reit does not pay tax. only the investors pays tax.

ok, thanks. i think i prefer to buy property direct.

It is another class of property investment and a low cost way to have a equity stake in the company by becoming a shareholder in companies who are managing some of the most attractive properties in Malaysia such as The Curve, Suria KLCC, Subang Parade, Lot 10, Wisma Denmark, various Golf clubs and hotel resorts, Pantai Hill Hospital to name a few. And you have the assurances that they are regulated by Securities Commission and comply with certain standard of management as part of their listing requirement.

You benefit from
1. Annual dividend income distributed by the companies. In UK, REIT companies have to give away a fixed percentage i.e 90% of their profits to shareholders in lieu of paying corporate tax. I assume Malaysia is no different as we adopt majority of the UK legal and financial system framework. Correct me if my assumption is incorrect. The only tax that shareholders have to pay is the withholding tax of 22% but if you meet certain tax status, you qualify for tax exemption and pay zero taxes. But the only reason why an investor buy into REIT is because they pay high dividend annual income against other companies. Well at least within the UK context.
2. Potential increase in share prices. REIT companies are listed on the stock exchange and their shares can be traded as other equity shares.

BTW Sam, answering your question in the other thread. I am an Analyst/Consultant specialising in Supply Chain with a UK Home Retailer (www.homebase.co.uk). I will be out of my job if I did not make an effort to know about the property market in UK and provide recommendation to the business to minimise their risks. I supplement my income from property rentals and exporting used children's book and sourced used XBOX 360 console/games for worldwide export.

Feizal thanks for this.

what is latest with uk property? some bad info in press.

I think they made some changes in budget for REITs. Anyone know what they are?

If the majority of investors are going to be foreigners, is there any benefit of having a REIT setup? Does anyone know?

Why not just set up an offshore company instead?

With a Malaysian REIT the foreign investor would pay Malaysian tax on any dividends received. But if the company is set up abroad then there's no tax to pay.

Axis Reit. Pioneer in Malaysian Reit, great MNC clients (commercial properties) which are out of reach for most retailers like myself.

are u recommending them? any further details?