Minto Apartment REIT (MI.UN-T)

Great company, likes it. Very good management, backed by a large developer. While he's bullish on the apartment market, condos are emptying out. Condo rentals are very expensive, and there's lots of supply.

The sector's been acting quite well. He's been picking up some of this name, one of his favourite smaller names in Canada.

After a successful IPO, has since traded at material discount to NAV. Management is trying to close the gap, buying back units in the REIT (a bullish indicator). Definitely more upside than down, but operating environment is a lot tougher today. Not for the faint of heart, but you can continue to hold and watch for the NAV gap to close.

Tilts more to the luxury side, facing increased competition in Toronto from new supply.

Good job on capital allocation. Trades at wide discount to private market value. Macro for Canadian apartment fundamentals has been somewhat lackluster. Lots of competitive new supply. Housing costs are unaffordable, so low rental turnover. Rent controls limit increases. Very safe distribution. Need patience for Canada's economic picture to improve.

Long-term, yes, for residential REITs, like apartment ones. They also benefit from more immigration. This leads to higher rents. InterRent, Minto and CAP are his preferreds in this space. CAP is the biggest, and they hold a super-quality portfolio that they've been upgrading in recent years. All these are focused in Ontario. but they benefit from lower interest rates. A caveat: Ottawa is slowing immigration to Canada, which feeds demand for apartments. Expect choppiness, but these are good holds. Minto has a great relationship with a private developer who build high-quality homes. They have great capital discipline. But they are exposed to the Toronto market, and their quality homes puts them in competition with the current condo glut in Toronto. This won't hurt Minto's long-term, but the stock will be choppy.

Quite a discount to NAV, attractive. Lower yield, 3.5% range. Strong management, CEO is now internal. Looking to grow bottom line. Fixed balance sheet. On a good path. Political risk from rent control, but that's not imminent.

Lots of value, trades at wide discount to NAV. When will the gap close? Show-me story, needs to show bottom-line earnings growth and starting to do so. Smart capital allocation decisions starting to happen. Quality real estate, discount to the sector, buy and do well long term.

Great portfolio, solid management. Surprising that it trades below its IPO price. Has had best-in-class portfolio, but not necessarily best-in-class balance sheet. Topline growth has not fallen to bottom line. Too much variable interest rate exposure. 

Looking to sell assets to reduce leverage, giving them capacity to expand in BC market. Thinks troubles are behind them, "show me" in terms of execution.

Renewals growth of 6-8%. Federal government's supporting increased supply. It's fine. Good chance you'll see a recovery. Cheap, trades at 10-15% discount. Nothing better than apartments right now, because market's so tight.

Apartment sector extremely interesting right now. Rents are going up 10% YOY. Good assets to own for the long term. Regulatory overhang. He owns MEQ.