Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa May 2013 | Page 51

COMMERCIAL
How do we compare legislation wise
to other countries that use the REIT
structure?
The one area of development that needs some
attention is probably the legislation around
REITs. At the moment there is no legislation in
SA that governs REITs. The current JSE listed
REIT universe is comprised of dual listings. I
am not sure how this is treated internationally.

What benefits do the property players
in South Africa expect to see, are they
realistic?
The players are expecting more inf lows
from foreign investors purely as a result that
REITs will offer them a structure that they
understand and that they will be mandated to
invest in. They are also positive about the tax
benefits of REITs.

There has been a lot of hype around the
introduction of REIT’s, is it warranted?
As an investor in loan stock you will be better

www.reimag.co.za

off in REITs as far as tax is concerned. Loan
stock companies are subjected to CGT when
trading companies, whereas CGT does not
apply to REITs. That means that there will be
an immediate pick up for investors considering
this and the fact that more international
involvement in our local property market is
expected probably does warrant the hype.

In your opinion, which three stocks
should people invest in right now?
I n v e s t i n m o r e t h a n t h r e e s t o c k s…
diversification among assets as well as asset
classes are prudent. I don’t have a view on
particular stocks. Personally I prefer global
emerging markets for long-term solid returns.
This may entail investing in developed markets
and companies but with strong distribution
networks into emerging markets.

RESOURCES
Mazars Financial Services

May 2013 SA Real Estate Investor

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