Partners REIT (PAR.UN-T)

It is highly leveraged and the payout ratio is close to 100%, recently they cut the dividend and there was management turnover. There were a lot of complicated transactions, some of which were not arm’s length.

It shows the danger of buying it just for the yield. He does not see a lot of yield in this name.

A bit of a soap opera about old and new management and what is going on. He is not looking at it. You could gamble on this one and there might be some recovery. Prefers Plaza Retail REIT.

Feels the dividend is sustainable, but this would not be one of his favourite REITs. If you are looking at getting exposure to either a diversified REIT or something in Atlantic Canada, he would rather a cleaner story. There is an activist shareholder that has stepped in and tried to affect a change in management. Too risky for him as he is not sure what direction this goes.

Going through a restructuring as their external manager had some financial difficulties, so right now there is a bit of a scandal going through and some hedge funds playing in the space. He finds that whenever a company is going through a significant transition, he would rather not be there.

In a very unique situation because their asset manager and their largest shareholder filed for bankruptcy protection and they own about 15% of the REIT. Going forward, the units are likely going to trade depending on what kind of acquisitions comes through and not on fundamentals. NAV is around $6.50. He would not get involved with this one right now. Too much uncertainty.

They recently purchased some new properties. He has been working on this as to whether the 9.5% dividend is sustainable. A bit small for him right now. Feels you would probably be better off in some of the other high-yield names right now.

Went through a restructuring recently. It is probably best to stand aside at this time. Wants to see them get the focus back on the core real estate. It will be more than a year.

(Market Call Minute.) Issue here is a quality of the real estate and motivation of management.

Have a lot of private investments. Have a holding company where they cut the distributions just recently and are possibly thinking of taking it public. Recently sold his holdings. Quality people and quality group.