Tricon Capital Group (TCN.TO)

A Canadian company, but primarily exposed to US housing. Have a few different businesses. One is in land and housing development. Own a lot of land in California, Arizona and areas where there has been strong appreciation. Also into single-family rental business where they have accumulated a lot of individual homes and are renting them out. Thinks the outlook is very good. Excellent management team.

A great company. They have managed their business extremely well. Nice fees from property management.

Focused on single family homes in the US. 9-10% return on equity. Net asset value is $10 and growing and will go up as US houses go up in value.

Good little company. Has done quite well, but expects it has quite a bit further to go. Primarily a great play on the recovery in US real estate, which still has a lot further to go. This is probably one of the best ways to play it. They do own some US housing projects directly, but they also run money for others such as pension funds. Have been doing this for a long time and are small enough to be nimble.

A straight up play on US housing. Has 100% of balance sheet dedicated to US properties. They also manage investment funds that invest in US housing. Has been accumulating in this area recently. 3% dividend.

Buying up big tracts of residential property in the US. Create an income stream from US properties and grow the company by buying properties that are stressed.

A very opportunistic group. Good management. He bought recently. A great way for Canadians to play the US housing market.

(A Top Pick March 7/13. Up 21.96%.) They buy big swaths of US real estate and then rent it out. Thinks they are more than halfway through their strategy. Also, doing some financial engineering to either securitize or let somebody else take the cash flow and they get the cash now. This is just getting started. Feels the whole trade still has another 3-4 years to go and this will be one of the big players.

Very attractive business model that generates a lot of cash flow and investors could see growth. There are very large players out there. He would not be surprised at some point if they realize the potential in their portfolio. He could see an exit.

This company buys US housing. Have a great portfolio. They rent the homes and then resell some of them. They also manage partnerships with outside money that does the same thing, so you are almost levering on the same play. US housing is at the bottom and a great, long-term investment.

(A Top Pick Jan 31/13. Up 17.02%.) Has $10 as his fair NAV estimate, so continue to Hold. Have done a great job of increasing exposure to single-family homes in the US, so they have significant single-family home portfolio that comprises a significant chunk of the $10 NAV. Should continue to grow the business and there is a lot of potential for dividend growth. Yield of 2.99%.

He is not overweight on the real estate space but these guys have a really good management team and access untapped markets. He is holding it and thinks there is upside.

Canadian company bought single family residential homes in attractive parts of the US and they rent them out. Buy, renovate and rent them out. Gross yield is the key. It is pretty attractive at 13% gross yield. Run rate makes it pretty attractive also. Down the road they will have some 3000 homes and they have significant upside. It is a renters market now as well as a buyer’s market. TCN is well positioned and have done a good job. 92% of their rental homes are occupied.

A play on US housing. It has 3 components. 1.) An asset manager for institutions that want to invest in that. 2.) Land development business. 3.) Single-family rental portfolio that it’s built out with over 2000 homes. If you break down these 3 components and compare it against companies in those spaces, the valuation looks reasonable. Thinks the story will follow out along the US recovery, which he thinks has a few more years in it.

Their big plays are rental properties in the US. They got in reasonably early and got a good position and are experienced in doing it. Their portfolio has appreciated quite a bit. There is more competition now so they are now starting to get into a little more development. He feels US housing has 3-5 years left to go to get back to normal.