AIM REIT, Thailand's first independent management company for real estate investment trusts, seeks to be a leading property trust fund by focusing on several types of assets for generating income.
Chief executive Amorn Chulaluksananukul said there are several sectors in the company's pipeline: a warehouse REIT worth 4 billion baht, a hospitality REIT worth 4 billion and a retail REIT worth 2 billion.
"Starting this year, the company will set up and increase REIT asset investment in Thailand and, after three years, it will explore and expand into offshore REIT assets," Mr Amorn said.
The company was founded in 2016 with registered capital of 10 million baht and obtained a REIT manager licence from the Securities and Exchange Commission for five years from January 2017 to 2022.
The property fund business has existed in Thailand for nearly two decades, but because of SEC rules and a policy to promote REITs, existing property funds were unable to expand or raise capital, prompting property funds to convert to REITs.
All REITs were, however, subsidiaries of property developers until AIM REIT challenged the industry standard as an independent. The firm plans to launch its first REIT, for cold storage and warehouse rental, by next year.
Mr Amorn said the benefits of an independent manager of REITs include transparency in the asset selection process, asset price negotiation and other negotiating conditions.
An independent REIT also has no relations with the owners of the assets that the REIT invests in, he said.
Mr Amorn said he expects REITs to gain popularity as a fund-raising instrument after about 20 REITs listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand in the past five years.
Managing director Charasit Voravudhi said REITs are a financing tool suitable for companies with a full debt obligation, with multiple projects on their hands or with a desire to expand the business.
"A REIT lets companies raise funds faster," Mr Charasit said. "For example, a warehouse can normally break even in 10 years if a company is able to sell the asset to a REIT in the third year. It will have money to construct a new warehouse."
According to the SEC, there were 17 REIT managers as of Nov 7, with 15 tied to financial institutions or property development subsidiaries and two independents.
