Ambition is not in short supply at Manulife US Reit, which aims to double its assets under management (AUM) to US$2.6 billion (S$3.4 billion) in the next two years.
The trust is ready to employ a range of strategies to reach this target, including acquiring assets from its sponsor Manulife Financial Corporation or from third parties or by partnering with others.
Ms Jennifer Schillaci, the newly appointed chief investment officer of Reit manager Manulife US Real Estate Management, said yesterday: "Given the quality of the sponsor and depth of its expertise, we will be able to hit two to three acquisitions per year."
The manager's chief executive, Ms Jill Smith, told a briefing that there is keen interest from global investors for US commercial assets.
She said the influx of buyers is encouraging more property owners to sell. The Reit manager is also looking at a range of fund-raising options beyond bank loans and tapping capital markets.
The Reit's gearing ratio stood at 33.7 per cent at the end of last year, with 100 per cent fixed-rate loans and an average debt maturity of 3.4 years. Its weighted average interest cost was 2.83 per cent a year.
Manulife US Reit reported distribution per unit (DPU) of 1.42 US cents for the fourth quarter, 7.8 per cent lower than a year earlier.
After adjusting for the rights issue in October, the DPU would have been flat compared with a year ago.
Net property income grew 48.9 per cent to US$18.42 million on the back of two office acquisitions in New Jersey last year.
DPU for the full year was 5.77 US cents. There was no comparative figure for 2016 as the Reit was listed in May 2016. After adjusting for the rights issue, however, its full-year DPU would beat the Reit manager's forecast by 1.8 per cent.
With the two acquisitions and revaluation gains, the Reit's portfolio of freehold offices has grown 57.4 per cent from US$833.8 million as of the end of 2016, to US$1.3 billion as of Dec 31 last year.
Mr Vijay Natarajan, property and Reits analyst at RHB Research Institute Singapore, noted that the Reit manager's AUM target is "slightly ambitious but achievable".
"The speed of acquisition is possible, given the yields are still around 5.5 to 8 per cent in many US cities," he said. "It's just a question of whether they can find the right asset to acquire in terms of portfolio diversification."
Manulife US Reit units closed one US cent down at 91 US cents yesterday.