Determinants of Malaysian Real Estate Investment Trusts (M-REITs) Risk-Adjusted Performance during the Period of Property Oversupply

Abstract

After the remarkable property surge in the first half of 2010s decade (2010-2014), the Malaysian property market has then moved into a period of oversupply and price overhang, which pose more challenges for REIT managers. Unlike most previous research that mainly compared various risk-adjusted performance measures among REITs, this research looks into whether size of portfolio, fundamental performance measures (net property income and dividend yield) and types of property managed by REITs influence their risk-adjusted performance measure of Jensen alpha. Based on a sample of 16 Malaysian REITs over the period 2015-2017, regression results generally show that there is no significant relationship between any of these determinants and Jensen alpha. Furthermore, only one out of the 16 M-REITs has a positive Jensen alpha and outperforms the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index. Investors who prefer a high and certain dividend yield can consider to invest in M-REITs that mainly focused in the hospitality sector. Based on the rankings of Jensen alpha, M-REIT fund managers can consider to diversify their property portfolios to include more retail and hospitality properties during the period of property oversupply.