He adds that the REIT has seen a “strong demand” for offices in Singapore due to the city-state being a hub for Southeast Asia. The “flight to quality” and “flight to green” trend has been “very real” in the four markets the REIT is in.
Koh Wee Lih, the CEO of Keppel REIT’s (SGX:K71U
) manager, sees the Singapore office market as “very resilient”, unlike the sector in the US and Europe. Keppel REIT has a diversified portfolio of prime commercial assets in Singapore, Australia, South Korea and Japan. In Singapore, the REIT owns Ocean Financial Centre and has majority stakes in Marina Bay Financial Centre, One Raffles Quay and Keppel Bay Tower.
“[The] office [sector] has been very misunderstood,” says Koh, who was speaking at the Bank of Singapore’s (BoS) Singapore REITs (S-REITs) outlook event on Aug 29. Koh was one of the panellists during the panel discussion. He was joined by Serena Teo, CEO of CapitaLand Ascott Trust (SGX:HMN) ’s (CLAS); Anthea Lee, CEO of Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust (SGX:BUOU) 's (SGX:BUOU) (FLCT) trustee-manager and BoS’s chief investment strategist, Eli Lee.
