REITWay · REIT investment proposition, as well as our priorities for 2019. In addition, you will find highlighted four member-owned properties we featured in our Shaping Communities

REITWay®

Nareit’s Annual ReportMarch 2019

2 REITWay: 2019 Annual Report

2 Introduction

6 Policy & Politics

14 Research & Investor Outreach

24 Communications & Marketing

32 Finance & Operations

40 ESG Issues

43 Dividends Through Diversity & Inclusion

44 Award Winners

47 Nareit Leadership

48 Nareit Advisory Board of Governors

49 Nareit Management & Staff

51 Events Calendar

52 Board Associates

Table of Contents

Nareit: Real estate working for you 1


Nareit worked many ways in 2018 to build greater awareness and better understanding of REIT-based real estate investment. Throughout the year, we spoke to the value of REITs as an investment, as a mainstay in our communities, and as a keystone of our economy.

Promoting REIT-Based Real Estate Investment with PolicymakersCongress passed the most sweeping tax reform law in 30 years at the end of 2017. Importantly, the new law fully embraced the role of REITs and real estate investment in the economy.

During 2018, Nareit engaged with policymakers to develop the guidance needed to implement provisions of the new tax law, including one critical rule enabling investors to deduct 20 percent of qualified dividend income they receive from the REIT shares they hold. An important focus for Nareit’s Policy & Politics group during 2018 was to secure confirmation from the IRS that taxpayers who hold REITs indirectly

To Our Members

through mutual funds qualify for the same 20 percent deduction that taxpayers who hold REITs directly receive. We were pleased that the IRS issued positive guidance on this issue in early 2019.

This year, as in past years, we are directly taking our industry’s story to members of Congress. When the 116th Congress convened in January, it came with a significant number of new faces. We are reaching out to those members and their staff to build understand-ing of REITs and the benefits they provide to investors, communities, and the public.

Outreach to the Investment CommunityThe cornerstone of Nareit’s outreach program to the investment community is direct meetings with major investors conducted by members of our Research & Investor Outreach team. In 2018, team members participated in nearly 600 meetings with investors representing approximately $70 trillion in assets under management or advisement.

Investment research developed or sponsored by Nareit formed the basis for most of these discussions. Notably, in the past year, Nareit sponsored a study by pension industry research firm CEM Benchmarking that showed REITs produced higher returns than private real estate in pension fund portfolios, with lower costs.

The Investor Outreach team also presented analysis by Wilshire Associates demonstrating the performance boost REITs have historically provided to target date funds.

Nareit will continue this important work in the year ahead, reaching out to all segments of the investment marketplace to make the case for the important role for REITs in a broad range of investment portfolios and products.


Framing and Telling the REIT StoryNareit’s REITWay public awareness campaign was a key component of our communications efforts in 2018. Launched in 2015, the digital ad campaign is aimed at thought leaders and spotlights how REITs provide value to investors, help in job creation, and lead to the revitalization of communities. Last year, more than 113,000 visitors came to the campaign’s website.

Relations with the media continued to be an important tool for us to help tell the REIT story. Nareit successfully worked to increase positive coverage of the REIT approach to real estate investment in business and financial media.

Our Communications group also helped our members tell their stories to investors and other audiences, producing more than 200 video interviews of member company executives, which appeared on our website and were distributed through social media.

Bringing Our Community TogetherAs a membership-focused organization, all of our programs are aimed at responding to the needs of our members. In 2018, our Finance & Operations group again produced a range of conferences that provided member company executives with the opportunity to interact directly with a full range of investors; as well as to gain professional insight and to receive continuing education.

In 2017, Nareit established its Dividends Through Diversity & Inclusion initiative aimed at helping members recruit and develop a more diverse workforce. Last year, we conducted our first forum dedicated to the initiative where investors, recruitment professionals, and others discussed the advantages of diversity and strategies to achieve it. We intend to expand this initiative in 2019 and beyond.

Along these lines, Nareit events are increasingly geared to address ESG practices and showcase our industry’s achievements. Last year, we launched the REIT ESG Dashboard on our website, which illustrates the collective impact of sustainability efforts by U.S. REITs. And, in 2019, we will release the industry’s first ESG annual report—a document that will serve as a benchmark of REITs’ progress in pursuing ESG goals.

Nareit Working for YouThe pages that follow summarize the broad range of Nareit’s efforts in 2018 on behalf of our industry and the REIT investment proposition, as well as our priorities for 2019. In addition, you will find highlighted four member-owned properties we featured in our Shaping Communities series in REIT magazine over the past year.

We hope you will take time to review Nareit’s annual report, and that you find it useful.

All the best.

Steven A. Wechsler President & CEO



Excerpted from REIT magazine: November/December, 2018

Salesforce Tower San Francisco, California

Boston Properties“The construction of Salesforce Tower has really helped stimulate the economic growth of a new neighborhood that we are building here in San Francisco. It took a bit of ambition and confidence for any sponsor to take on this massive project for San Francisco. But we considered it an important anchor both for our skyline and also for the construction of the new neighborhood,” said San Francisco Board of Supervisors member Jane Kim.

■ At 1,070 feet tall (61 stories ) Salesforce Tower is the tallest office building west of Chicago and includes 1.4 million square feet of space.

■ Salesforce Tower is part of the San Francisco Transbay Redevelopment Plan and Transit Center District Plan, a 145-acre mixed-use redevelopment plan for the South of Market neighborhood.

■ The tower is LEED Platinum certified, with curved corners, a tapering silhouette, floor-to-ceiling glass, and blackwater filtration saving 30,000 gallons of fresh water a day.

■ Salesforce Tower features the tallest public art in the U.S., “Day for Night,” an electronic sculpture, created by artist Jim Campbell.



Tony Edwards Senior Executive Vice President

Policy & Politics

Year after year, Nareit is consistently working on the federal, state, and local level to educate policymakers and regulators about REITs and to underline the role REITs play in making real estate investment accessible to each and every person. When tax reform came to pass at the end of 2017, Nareit was pleased to see that the new 20 percent deduction for pass-through businesses applied to REIT dividends; that like-kind exchanges were preserved; and that interest deductibility for real estate investment was maintained. But the work on tax reform didn’t stop there.

In 2018, Nareit was focused on the regulations needed to implement the new law, including the IRS business plan and proposed IRS forms imple-menting section 199A. Nareit’s policy team regularly submitted comments on issues affecting members, including to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding its draft strategic plan through 2022.

Beyond tax reform, the Policy & Politics team regularly sends out Nareit Alerts to keep members updated on important policy issues. In 2018, Nareit Alerts addressed issues including: the SEC final rules on eliminating duplicative disclosures; and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) proposal to exclude operating lease receivables from the scope of the new credit losses standard.

The Policy & Politics team also helps oversee REITPAC, the only political action committee in the United States dedicated solely to the variety of issues relevant to REITs and publicly traded real estate companies.

As you can see, Nareit works every day to ensure policymakers have the information they need to set appropriate policy for REITs and real estate investment.

Cathy Barré Executive Vice President & General Counsel


Policy & Politics

Section 199A Guidance The IRS issued proposed regulations under section 199A in August 2018, which confirmed that REIT dividends held directly by shareholders qualified for the 20 percent deduction under section 199A. But it did not address the treatment of dividends from REITs received indirectly through holdings in mutual funds. Throughout the year, Nareit advocated for IRS confirmation that indirect REIT shareholders also qualify for the 20 percent deduction, in part through formal comment letters to the IRS as well as by testifying at hearings on the proposed regulations.

On Jan. 18, 2019, the IRS issued proposed regulations confirming that shareholders of mutual funds owning REITs receive the 20 percent deduction. Taxpayers can rely on the proposed regulations for 2018.

GILTILast year, Nareit and several tax directors from multinational U.S. REIT corporate members met with congressional committees to and the Treasury Department discuss the treatment of REITs in connec-tion with global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI).

GILTI requires a U.S. shareholder of a controlled foreign corporation to include in current income its GILTI, measured as the excess of the U.S. shareholder’s aggregate net income over a routine return of 10 percent on its pro-rata share of the depreciable tangible property of its controlled foreign corporations. The treatment of land and depreciable assets increases the likelihood that real estate companies such as REITs may trigger the tax resulting from GILTI income. Without guidance from the IRS, it was unclear whether GILTI qualifies as good income for a REIT.

In September 2018, the IRS issued a revenue procedure concluding that GILTI income qualified as good income under the REIT 95 percent gross income test. The revenue procedure also extended this positive conclu-sion to other types of income that had required REITs to obtain private letter rulings.

HawaiiIn early 2018, several bills were introduced in the Hawaii State Legislature requiring REITs to file either a composite tax return or pay withholding tax attributable to distributions to non-resident shareholders based on their pro rata share of a REIT’s income attributable to Hawaii. In addition, these bills would have required REITs to include on a REIT’s Hawaii corporate income tax return the name, address, and social security or federal identification number of each person owning stock in the REIT at any time during the taxable year. Nareit vigorously opposed the bills and they were not enacted in 2018.

Nareit continues to oppose the enactment of legislation in Hawaii to repeal the DPD, as well as any legislation that would require payment of Hawaii taxes on behalf of nonresident shareholders.

Sales Tax FairnessNareit, along with numerous state and national businesses and organizations, believes that there should be a level playing field for sales and use tax collection—whether the sale occurs at a physical location or online. With the rapid growth in e-commerce, marketplace fairness only makes sense: U.S. tax policy should reflect today’s marketplace.

In June 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, upholding a South Dakota law requiring online retailers with sales above a certain threshold to collect use taxes notwithstanding having no physical presence in-state. Nareit supported South Dakota in an amicus curiae brief. This decision levels the retail playing field so that states now can require online retailers to collect use taxes from customers under substantially the same rules as main street businesses.

Proxy Advisers and Increased Resubmission ThresholdsNareit believes that the current rules and regulations underpinning the U.S. proxy system are not functioning as intended and should be updated and revised by the Securities and Exchange Commission. In 2018, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton embraced the idea of increased resubmission thresholds and tighter rules for proxy advisers.

Nareit Executive Vice President and General Counsel Cathy Barré (left) testified before the IRS that the final Section 199A regulations should confirm that the section 199A deduction for qualified REIT dividends is available to both direct REIT share-holders and shareholders of REITs through mutual funds.


2019 Nareit Chair Sandeep Mathrani, Nareit CEO Steven Wechsler, and REIT executives met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) during Nareit’s 2019 CEO Forum & Advocacy Day.

(Left to right) Dana Anderson, vice chairman emeritus of Macerich; Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS); and Mark Decker Jr., CEO of IRET, at Nareit’s 2018 CEO Forum & Advocacy Day.


measure for the real estate industry, and encourages companies that report different forms of FFO to reconcile those measures to Nareit FFO in addition to net income.

In December 2018, Nareit published the Nareit FFO White Paper – 2018 Restatement, effective for annual periods beginning after Dec. 15, 2018, and interim periods reported within those periods. The Nareit FFO White Paper—2018 Restatement is intended to serve as a useful distillation and consolidation of previous Nareit guidance and is not meant to alter the fundamental definition of FFO.

Accounting for Leases—RefinementsIn 2018, Nareit worked with a coalition of its members operating as triple-net lessors on the issue of common area maintenance charges (CAMs) and property taxes and insurance. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued a final accounting standards update to the new leases standard. Of interest to equity REITs is the simplification provided for the accounting treatment of certain lessor costs, like property taxes and insurance. The update requires lessors to exclude from variable payments, and therefore revenue, lessor costs paid by lessees directly to third parties.

Policy & Politics

In response, Nareit strongly endorsed the SEC’s draft initiative to identify and take steps to address existing SEC rules and approaches that are outdated or are not functioning as intended.

mREITs and FHFA The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) final Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) Membership Rule ter-minated the FHLB membership eligibility of REIT captive insurance entities as of February 2017, although mREIT captives admitted prior to the rule’s initial proposal were allowed an additional 48 months. Nareit’s mREIT Council opposed the FHLB Membership Rule when it was initially proposed and has continued to advocate for legislative and/or regulatory action to enable mREITs to become eligible for FHLB membership.

In January 2018, a bill was introduced in the Senate to permit captive insurance entities that were prior FHLB members to restore or maintain their memberships. Throughout 2018, Nareit remained engaged in discus-sions with relevant lawmakers and the House Financial Services and Senate Banking Committees regarding this issue.

FFO White Paper RestatementAs the market for REITs continues to grow, it is critical that individuals have access to accurate and impartial data to make informed investment decisions. One important non-GAAP measure is Nareit Funds from Operations (FFO), which is used by REITs as a supplemental measure of operating performance. The SEC recognizes Nareit FFO as a standard non-GAAP

REITPAC is a political action committee established by Nareit to provide financial support to federal candidates supportive of the REIT and publicly traded real estate industry. REITPAC continued a stretch of successful contribution years again in 2018, totaling more than $1.2 million.

update

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Grassroots Activity

■ Meetings with Legislators in Congressional Districts

■ Political Outreach Meetings with Corporate Members

Grassroots VisitsOver the past several years, Nareit has consistently sought to encourage grassroots meetings with legislators in congressional districts and political outreach meetings with Nareit corporate members. Nareit continued to organize numerous visits between members of Congress and REIT executives in congressional districts in 2018, hosting 37 meetings.


2019 TO-DO LISTPolicy & Politics ■ Convey the REIT approach to

real estate investment to the

many new members of the

House and Senate.

■ Help lead the Coalition to Insure

Against Terrorism in the renewal of

the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act,

which expires at the end of 2020.

For 2019, the goal is to have the

House and Senate hold hearings

on a renewal bill by the end of

the year.

■ Continue to oppose state

legislation that would negatively

impact Nareit members.

■ Continue to support grassroots

and political outreach, including

meetings between Nareit

members and elected officials.

Owen Thomas of Boston Properties with current Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) during Nareit’s 2018 CEO Forum & Advocacy Day.

REITPAC is a political action committee established by Nareit to provide financial support to federal candidates supportive of the REIT and publicly traded real estate industry. REITPAC continued a stretch of successful contribution years again in 2018, totaling more than $1.2 million.

(Left to right) Mike Landy of Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp., John Isakson of Preferred Apartment Communities, Bobby Bowers of Piedmont Office Realty Trust, and Steven Wechsler of Nareit met with House Ways & Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) during Nareit’s 2018 CEO Forum & Advocacy Day.



Excerpted from REIT magazine: May/June, 2018

California Farmland Central California

Farmland Partners“As a publicly traded REIT, we bring individual and institutional investors into the ownership of U.S. farmland. By forming long-term partnerships with farmers, we allow them to grow their businesses and remain vibrant members of the communities that they operate within. As we build our portfolio, we will create more opportunities for investors to invest in high-quality U.S. farmland and work with high-quality farmers,” said Cortland Barnes, Farmland Partners’ vice president of business development.

■ Farmland Partners owns nearly 12,000 acres in California.

■ Across the U.S., Farmland Partners owns more than 166,000 acres in 17 states representing 110 separate tenants farming 25 crop types.

■ California produces 80 percent of the world’s almonds, over a third of U.S. vegetables, and two-thirds of U.S. fruits and nuts. In 2017, California exported more than $20 billion of agricultural products.

■ Total returns from U.S. farmland over the last 45 years are in the 10 to 11 percent per year range.



John Worth Executive Vice President, Research & Investor Outreach

Research & Investor Outreach

Nareit’s Research & Investor Outreach team continues to inform and educate institutional investors—including plan sponsors, investment consultants, and managers—and financial advisors, individual investors, policymakers, the media, and the public worldwide about REITs and

their important role in well-diversified portfolios.

Research developed by Nareit’s internal staff, as well as through sponsored research conducted by widely recognized investment industry practitioners and academic researchers, has demonstrated the competitive, long-term market performance record and diversification benefits of REITs and the role they can and should play in investment portfolios. There is a wide body of evidence, including new research sponsored by Nareit, that demonstrates that REITs are the best way to gain commercial real estate exposure, providing lower costs and higher returns than other styles of real estate investment.

This research underpins Nareit’s core investor outreach message that commercial real estate is an asset class that needs to be part of every diversified portfolio. REITs provide low cost, transparent, and liquid access to this key asset class.

Nareit’s investor outreach message is communicated to investors and oth-ers through direct meetings with investment organizations, presentations at relevant investment conferences, direct marketing campaigns, through earned media, webinar presentations, and via Nareit’s website, REIT.com. Meetings with investors position Nareit as both a resource for data and information with respect to REIT-based real estate investment as well as a partner in promoting the merits of real estate investment through REITs.

In 2018, Nareit completed a research study with an external consultant on the barriers to REIT investment among generalist investors. During 2019, Nareit will communicate results of the study to member REITs and develop and communicate results of internal research addressing widespread generalist investor misunderstandings about REITs.



Investor Outreach Meeting ActivityIn 2018, Nareit’s Investor Outreach team conducted 574 direct meetings with organizations representing more than $68 trillion of assets under management or advisement. Nareit met with many of the largest and most influential plan sponsors, investment managers, and investment consultants in the institutional invest-ment marketplace in the U.S. and around the world.

Defined Benefit Plan OutreachDefined benefit (DB) pension plans, with total assets of $7.5 trillion at the end of the second quarter of 2018, comprise a large and highly concentrated segment of the $27.2 trillion U.S. pension, retirement, and endow-ment market. More than half of all public and corporate DB pension plans, on an asset weighted basis, report holding REITs in their real estate portfolios. Most of these organizations gain exposure to the real estate asset class by using a blended investment approach that combines both REITs and private real estate investments.

Defined Contribution Plan OutreachThe growing use of asset allocation products, most notably target-date funds (TDF), remains the dominant investment-related trend in the defined contribution (DC) and individual retirement account (IRA) markets, which together accounted for $17.1 trillion of the U.S. pension, retirement, and endowment market at the end of the second quarter of 2018. At the end of 2018, there were more than $1 trillion in target-date mutual fund assets overall, including more than $971 billion in IRAs and DC plans.

Since the end of 2002, target-date fund assets have grown at a 34 percent compound annual rate. Having a distinct REIT allocation included in these asset allocation products channels investment dollars immediately and automatically into the listed REIT industry. Thus, Nareit focuses most of its efforts in DC outreach on the providers of such funds.

Financial Advisor OutreachMore than one-third of all retirement assets in the U.S. are held in rollover, traditional, or Roth IRAs. In response, Nareit has developed a strategic and comprehensive outreach program designed to promote REIT-based real estate investment to the retail investor marketplace, targeting financial intermediaries, such as family wealth offices, registered investment advisors (RIAs), and financial planners.

In recent years, Nareit has conducted a series of direct marketing campaigns targeting financial advisors. In 2018, the direct marketing campaigns reached more than 50,000 U.S.-based RIAs.

■ Individual Retirement Plans $9.3 trillion

■ Defined Contribution Plans1 $7.8 trillion

■ Defined Benefit Plans2 $7.5 trillion

■ Endowments & Foundations $2.7 trillion

Target Investment Market Assets Exceed $27T

Source: Investment Company Institute

(excluding annuities), September 2018.

1 Includes assets of the federal Thrift Savings Plan

2 Excludes assets of federal defined benefit plans restricted to holding only Treasury securities


Nareit’s John Worth (left) and Calvin Schnure discussed the state of the economy and outlook for REIT capital markets at Nareit’s REITWorld.

Nareit Holds 574 Investor Outreach Meetings in 2018(Representing more than $68 trillion of assets under management or advisement)

■ Investment Managers 244

■ Plan Sponsors 178

■ Others 82

■ Investment Consultants 70

Nareit’s Steven Wechsler (left) met with Tu Guangshao, president of China Investment Corporation (CIC), during a December 2018 outreach trip in Beijing.



Nareit ResearchIn 2018, Nareit economists continued to develop and update several analyses and perspectives on how REITs have performed during periods of rising rates. Nareit updated and refined these analyses for 2018. Historically, REITs have performed well during periods of rising interest rates. Since 1992, REITs posted positive total 12-month returns in 86 percent of episodes of rising Treasury yields and REITs outperformed the S&P 500 in 52 percent of these periods.

Sponsored ResearchIn 2018, Nareit sponsored three studies to further analyze the benefits of the REIT approach to real estate investment.

• Asset Allocation and Fund Performance of Defined Benefit Pension Funds in the United States, 1998-2016: In this study, CEM Benchmarking Inc. compared the actual investment performance of public and corporate pension fund investments in REITs and 11 other classes of investments over a 19-year period. The study showed that REITs outperformed all styles of unlisted real estate..

• The Role of REITs in Target Date Funds, 2018: In this study, Wilshire Associates updated its analysis of the role of REITs and real estate companies in target date funds. Wilshire found that REITs are critical to improving investment returns and reducing risk..

• The Economic Contribution of REITs in the United States, 2018: Nareit commissioned EY to update its estimate of the current economic contribution of all U.S. REITs in the U.S. The total economic contribution of U.S. REITs in 2017 was an estimated 2.3 million full-time equivalent jobs..

International Outreach ActivityIn 2018, Nareit brought its outreach message to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Nareit also continued its efforts to meet with sovereign wealth funds both in their home countries and in their U.S. offices. Nareit and the European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA) joined forces for a week of investor outreach meetings in Europe.

Nareit completed Asian outreach trips in May and December. In 2019, Nareit will extend its outreach to investors in the Middle East.

Economic Contribution of REITs

Source: Economic Contribution of REITs in the United States, EY, December 2018.

2.3M Total full-time equivalent

jobs contributed $140.4B Total labor income

contributed

$53.1BInterest income paid by REIT activities, with $106.2 billion

in dividend income distributed

265,000Workers directly

employed by REITs

$65.5BREIT industry investment in

new construction and routine capital expenditures to

maintain existing property

$19.0BREIT property taxes

paid to localities and states


Annual Net Total Return for Real Estate by Ownership Style(In percent, 1998 – 2016)

Source: CEM Benchmarking, 2018

REITs

Internally Managed Direct

Value Added/Opportunistic

Core

Fund of Funds

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

Average Annual Total Return Net of Fees %

Sampling of 2018 Nareit Research• Updated analysis of REIT ownership trends among active,

passive, and generalist mutual funds and ETFs.

• REIT Property Tax Survey: Nareit conducted a survey of its membership to collect estimates of property taxes paid by state. This data will be used in estimating REIT economic contributions as well as for communicating with policymakers at the local, state, and federal level.

• Estimated the number and share of Americans and households that own REITs: 80 million Americans or about 40 percent of households own REIT stocks.

• mREIT white paper: This paper analyzed changes in the mREIT sector since prior to the Great Financial Crisis.


REIT Index UpdatesThe FTSE Nareit U.S. Real Estate Index Series is designed to provide investors with a comprehensive family of REIT performance benchmarks that span the commercial real estate space across the U.S. economy. The index series provides investors with exposure to all investment and property sectors.

As of Dec. 31, 2018, the FTSE Nareit All REITs Index, the broadest index of stock exchange-listed REITs in the FTSE Nareit U.S. Real Estate Index Series, included 226 constituents with a combined float adjusted equity market capitalization of $1.05 trillion.

The FTSE EPRA/Nareit Global Real Estate Index Series covers the world’s largest investment markets and includes a range of developed and emerging markets, regional and country indices, capped indices, dividend+ indices, global sectors, and REITs and non-REITs series.

As of Dec. 31, 2018, the FTSE EPRA/Nareit Global Real Estate Index contained 480 constituents with a combined float adjusted equity market capitalization of approximately $1.54 trillion.

The FTSE Nareit Preferred Stock Index is designed to provide investors with a benchmark for the performance of the preferred stocks of U.S. stock exchange-listed Equity REITs. The FTSE Nareit Preferred Stock Index included 103 constituents with a combined float adjusted equity market capitalization of $15 billion, as of Dec. 31, 2018.

Nareit Total REIT Industry Tracker SeriesNareit produces and publishes the Nareit Total REIT Industry Tracker Series (Nareit T-Tracker®), a quarterly report of the composite operating and investment per-formance of the entire U.S. stock exchange-listed REIT industry. The series includes three key REIT industry measures of performance: funds from operations, net operating income, and quarterly dividends.

The Nareit T-Tracker provides a window into the industry’s performance, making an already transparent investment even more so. The Nareit T-Tracker is based on information provided in quarterly earnings announce-ments as reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission by constituent firms in the FTSE Nareit All REITs Index. Recently, T-Tracker coverage was expand-ed to include nearly every REIT that has appeared as a constituent of the FTSE Nareit All Equity REITs Index beginning in the year 2000. To more effectively promote and support REIT-based real estate investment by gen-eralist investors and active portfolio managers, T-Tracker data is available through Bloomberg Intelligence.

Market CommentariesThe Market Commentary blog on Nareit’s website, reit.com, provides a growing number and breadth of analyses of the macroeconomic environment and the microeconomic fundamentals that impact the REIT and real estate industry. In 2018, Research & Investor Outreach economists wrote nearly 50 market commen-taries covering topics ranging from prospects for the CMBS market, REIT return correlations, and REITs and inflation protection.

New Indexes Launched in 2018The FTSE EPRA Nareit Green Indexes provide investors a way to identify real estate companies with strong sustainability performance. The indexes are a sus-tainability-focused extension to the FTSE EPRA Nareit Developed Real Estate Index Series, a series of listed real estate benchmarks with approximately $341 billion of benchmarked assets.

The FTSE Nareit RORI REITs Index, which was designed to track, benchmark, and analyze the residential, office, retail, and industrial sectors of the listed U.S. REIT market, launched in October 2018.


Nareit’s IR Symposium featured a session on REIT corporate governance with (left to right) Ted McHugh of Edelman, Sherry Rexroad of BlackRock, and Alesandra Rutherford of Camberview Partners.


2019 TO-DO LISTResearch & Investor Outreach ■ Conduct at least 520 outreach

meetings with institutional investors.

■ Educate and inform financial advisors

about the benefits of REIT-based real

estate investment.

■ Effectively promote REIT-based real

estate investment internationally.

■ Communicate results of the 2019

sponsored research analyses

conducted with Wilshire Associates

and CEM Benchmarking, Inc. to

investors.

■ Manage and maintain the quality,

integrity and timeliness of the FTSE

Nareit Real Estate Index Series and

FTSE EPRA/Nareit Global Real Estate

Index Series.

■ Communicate results of research

study on barriers to use of REITs

among generalist investors with

member REITs and the REIT investor

relations community, and develop

and communicate results of internal

research addressing widespread

generalist investor misunderstand-

ings about REITs.

Occupancy rates of REIT-owned properties reached a record high of 94.3%

200

3

200

4

200

5

200

6

200

7

200

8

200

9

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

100

95

90

85

80

■ Apartments

■ Retail

■ Industrial

■ Office

■ All Equity REITs

Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence, Nareit T-Tracker®



South Street Landing Providence, Rhode Island

Ventas, Inc.

Excerpted from REIT magazine: March/April, 2018

“We are creating a hub for life science research, for innovation, for entrepreneurship, economic innovation. Our real estate really is the backbone of a campus that brings those parties together to stimulate economic expansion and to bring the talent together to cluster here, which will be the driver of innovation and economic growth for the communities,” said Bob Probst, Ventas executive vice president and CFO.

South Street Landing is a former power station originally developed in 1912 that remains on the National Register of Historic Places.

The 268,000-square-foot redevelopment includes offices, classrooms, and state-of-the-art laboratories.

The project is a central part of Providence’s goal of becoming a hub for companies focused on life sciences and innovation.

South Street Landing is expected to create 540 jobs generating $29 million in annual earnings.



Robert PfliegerExecutive Vice President, Communications & Marketing

On the heels of the successful rollout of Nareit’s repositioning initiative in November 2017, Nareit’s Communications team focused on institution-alizing the new brand and strengthening its approach to telling the REIT investment story. This is done by supporting Nareit’s political advocacy

and investor outreach efforts, through coordinated media relations, and by producing communications for, and on behalf of, Nareit’s members.

Nareit’s messaging, centered around the tagline “Real estate working for you,” continues to resonate with investors, policymakers, and the media. REITs are an essential part of the economy and a valuable component of investors’ portfolios. Nareit increasingly uses targeted digital campaigns to ensure its messages directly reach key stakeholders.

Nareit’s communications continually reinforce that REITs of all types collectively own more than $3 trillion in gross assets across the U.S., with public REITs owning approximately $2 trillion in assets and having an equity market capitalization of more than $1 trillion.

In addition to the economic and investment benefits of REITs, a central part of the message that Nareit’s Communications team is continuing to emphasize is the role of REITs in communities. Nareit has not only highlighted these local economic activities in REIT magazine and in this annual report, but also through videos available on REIT.com.

In addition to promoting the overall REIT industry, telling its members’ stories is central to Nareit’s mission. Nareit regularly showcases its broad member base to highlight how individual companies represent the diversity of REIT-based real estate investment.

For example, Nareit annually conducts approximately 200 one-on-one video interviews with member company executives to discuss their companies, trends impacting their sector, and broader industry and economic issues. These interviews are not only featured prominently on Nareit’s website, but throughout Nareit’s other communications and social media channels.

As Nareit engages in a regular dialogue with policymakers, investors, and the public at large, one-on-one conversations like our videos—as well as company profiles in REIT magazine, the REIT Report podcast, Real Estate Investment SmartBrief, and social media—help us tell the world the real story of real estate working for you.

Communications & Marketing



given the strength of the industry’s overall balance sheet and the lowest level of debt in 20 years.

Nareit partnered with Bloomberg Intelligence during the year to conduct a series of webinars for institutional investors aimed at building better understanding of REIT investment, the first of which addressed the interest rate issue.

Nareit also conducted a series of digital campaigns using social media to reach out directly to investment audiences and bring them to Nareit’s website to download materials with messaging on interest rates and other issues. Combined media relations and digital campaigns also were used to promote sponsored investment research by Wilshire Associates and CEM Benchmarking, as well as analysis by Nareit economists providing insight into the outlook for the economy and REIT market.

REIT.com UpdatesNareit changed its website and search engine optimi-zation (SEO) vendors in 2018 to firms better suited to executing Nareit’s online presence. As a result, much of 2018 from a web standpoint was spent implementing several back-end improvements to the site to improve functionality both from a user and staff perspective.

Nareit and its new SEO vendor conducted a thorough site review that resulted in several changes to the way content is formatted to make it more accessible and higher ranked by search engines.

Nareit Editorial Director Sarah Borchersen-Keto (left) interviewed Nareit’s Senior Vice President of Government Relations Robert Dibblee for an

episode of Nareit’s REIT Report Podcast.

The REITWay Public Awareness CampaignLaunched in 2015, the primary goal of the REITWay public awareness campaign is to educate policymakers and thought leaders and build a long-term understand-ing about the benefits of REITs to the U.S. economy and individual communities. The campaign focuses on the core message that REITs are an important contributor to the value of investment portfolios for millions of Americans, as well as to job creation, the revitalization of communities, and the growth of the economy.

The 2018 REITWay campaign started in February and delivered more than 57 million impressions (individuals who have seen the message) from Nareit’s target audiences.

An important metric to measure the effectiveness of the campaign’s digital placements and creative messages was incoming website traffic to the campaign’s micro-site, TheREITWay.com, to learn more about the REIT industry. In 2018, there were more than 113,000 visits to the campaign’s microsite, with digital ad placements as the primary driver for website traffic.

Video was also a significant component to the 2018 campaign, with a heavier emphasis on this content type compared to previous years. Video assets for the campaign, which proved to be highly successful, highlighted specific REITs across the country, as well as key facts and figures that promote the many benefits of this asset class. The REITWay video content delivered more than 6.2 million video completions, which is well above industry norms. Similarly, the percentage video completion rate steadily increased over the course of the campaign, proving audiences found the content and messages to be both engaging and compelling.

Media RelationsIn 2018, Nareit’s media relations team monitored and addressed trends in media and analyst coverage of REITs and worked to build awareness for Nareit’s in-house and sponsored research on REIT investment performance.

With the Federal Reserve continuing to raise interest rates, the impact of rising rates on REIT performance was a growing concern for investors and a frequent subject of media coverage. Nareit positioned its econo-mists as spokespersons to media to discuss the actual impact of interest rates on REIT operating performance,

• Weekly interviews focused on topics of importance to the REIT and real estate investment community

• 50,266 podcast downloads in 2018

• 15 podcast episodes downloaded more than 1,000 times

Nareit’sREIT ReportPodcast


Likes were up 7.2% to 5,564

Followers increased 7.4% to 19,231

Followers rose 47.1% to 4,176

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TODAYJANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

INSIDE:

Life Storage’s New Look PAGE 30

ESG All-Stars PAGE 36

Demographic Myths PAGE 50

HOST WITH A SMILESelf-avowed “people person” Jim Risoleo is now leading Host Hotels & Resorts after more than two decades with the company.

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TODAYJULY/AUGUST 2018

IN THE DRIVER’S SEATLeslie Hale takes over as CEO of RLJ Lodging Trust, becoming the first African-American woman to lead a REIT.

INSIDE:Greening the Grid PAGE 24

Inland Turns 50 PAGE 34

Blackstone’s Powers of Conviction PAGE 44

REAL ESTATE INVESTMEMARCH/APRIL 2018REAL ESTATE INVESTMEMARCH/APRIL 2018

CEO Peter Baccile joins First Industrial Realty Trust at a promising time for industrial REITs.

THEGOLDENAGE

INSIDE:Are Malls Ready to Deal? PAGE 18

Columbia Property’s Comeback PAGE 30

Maximizing Pension Returns PAGE 38

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT TODAYSEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018

INSIDE:Brixmor’s Open-Air Strategy PAGE 18

Gearing Up Globally PAGE 30

Armada Hoffler Creates a Virginia Beach CBD PAGE 42

FROM THE GROUND UPSafety, Income & Growth’s Jay Sugarman discusses the art of separating the ownership of a building from its land.

REIT Magazine: Winner of the 2018 Association Media and Publishing EXCEL Award for Best Redesign

2018 Social Media Stats



SmartBrief Subscribers Reach All-Time HighReal Estate Investment SmartBrief, Nareit’s daily executive news summary, continues to be a valuable resource for industry professionals and investors alike. Through improved content and increased opportunities to subscribe on reit.com, the brief has seen its subscrip-tion base increase more than 15 percent in 2018 to just under 29,000—an all-time high.

The increase in the subscriber base has come with continued engagement numbers that far exceed those seen by most other newsletters published by SmartBrief. The brief’s 30.4 percent open rate is in line with the 2017 open rate and tops the average open rate for all other industry briefs (24.5 percent). In addition, Real Estate Investment SmartBrief’s clickthrough rate (6.34 percent) is nearly double the SmartBrief average (3.58 percent). Nareit-produced content included in SmartBrief is also driving more traffic to Nareit’s website, with referrals from SmartBrief up 62 percent in 2018.

MarketingNareit continues to refine its marketing operations to ensure that the right messages are delivered to the right audiences at the right time. Following the redesign of REIT.com, Nareit implemented more sophisticated analytics and informatics tools. Armed with new and more complete information about who was visiting and interacting with the association’s digital properties, the marketing team was able to follow-up with relevant audiences with targeted ads, emails, and social media posts.

In the short term these efforts have resulted in greater web traffic, expanded publication subscriptions, and increased social media engagement. As the initiative moves forward in 2019 it will focus on driving event registration and overall awareness of the industry.

In addition, Nareit conducted a website usability study in 2018 to obtain actionable user-based suggestions for site navigation and functionality. Twenty investment-minded web users were monitored while performing a list of tasks on REIT.com to see how intuitive the site was in accomplishing their goal. During the first quarter of 2019, enhancements to page layout, site navigation, and general usability will be implement-ed based on suggestions from the study.

Targeted MicrositesNareit utilizes targeted microsites as a way to tell the REIT story on a more granular level. TheREITWay.com has been a core component of Nareit’s public awareness campaign since 2015, helping to inform policymakers and targeted audiences about the important role REITs play in the economy.

At the state level, Nareit launched a redesigned TheREITWayHawaii.com in 2018 to better highlight the significant economic impact REITs have in the state. The website serves as the central component of Nareit’s public awareness campaign in the state, augmenting the lobbying efforts around the ongoing state legislative issues.

Nareit also launched a fully redesigned and improved microsite for REITPAC, the REIT industry’s largest political action committee. Enhancements include a full redesign to ensure the site follows Nareit’s new brand guidelines, as well as making the site mobile friendly, and streamlining the log in and donation process.

On the investor outreach side, Nareit is developing a dedicated site targeting defined benefit plan managers to increase awareness of and investment in listed REITs. The microsite, slated to launch in the first half of 2019, will provide tailored content for this important investment audience and serve as the content anchor for outreach efforts.


2019 TO-DO LISTCommunications& Marketing ■ Increase awareness among

media, investment professionals,

and investors of the benefits of

REITs as a portfolio investment.

■ Redesign the REIT.com homepage

and REITs Across America web

platform; as well as launch a

microsite targeted to pension

plan trustees.

■ Focus on refining circulation of

REIT magazine to better align it

with desired readership.

■ Analyze Nareit’s audiences and

communications and develop

an organization-wide content

marketing strategy to maximize

audience engagement.

• More than 900,000 users visited REIT.com in 2018, generating nearly 1.4 million sessions

• Average session duration increased 5% to 3 minutes and 45 seconds

• 84% of all site visits were from new users• REIT.com visitors generated more than

482,000 videos views

2018 REIT.com Stats



Westfield World Trade Center Lower Manhattan, New York

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield

Excerpted from REIT magazine: January/February, 2018

“We are proud to be part of the spectacular rebirth of this site and believe that Westfield World Trade Center will become one of the world’s most recognizable retail landmarks,” said Westfield Corporation Chairman and Co-CEO Frank Lowy at the retail center’s grand opening on Aug. 16, 2016. A year after completing Phase I, Westfield World Trade Center—like lower Manhattan itself—continues to grow as a destination intersecting community, culture, and commerce.

Westfield initially agreed to become part of the World Trade Center site in July 2001 and has been intimately involved with the rebuilding and revitalization ever since.

Westfield World Trade Center incorporates 290,000 square feet of retail and dining. Expected to include a total of 365,000 square feet of retail and dining across the site after completion of its second phase.

WTC Transportation Hub is approximately 800,000 square feet and the third-largest transportation center in New York City.

Westfield World Trade Center is expected to register $1 billion in annual sales and serve more than 100 million visitors each year upon its full completion and stabilization.



Sheldon Groner Executive Vice President, Finance & Operations

Nareit’s Finance & Operations team provides the critical organiza-tional infrastructure necessary to operate and to effectively serve its members and other stakeholders.

The Finance & Operations team works day-in and day-out to maintain the highest standard of fiscal responsibility and to preserve the organization’s fiscal resources. No different than any public company, an essential component of this mission is to ensure that assets are safeguarded and utilized in a manner consistent with the organization’s mission. To that end, Nareit’s finance/accounting staff is charged with accurately recording all financial transactions; regularly reporting on the organization’s financial results to Nareit’s Executive Board; and achieving, without exception, the highest annual audit opinion from an independent auditing firm.

As a member-based association, it is incumbent upon Nareit to continually identify and retain both corporate and individual members. Nareit’s Finance & Operations team regularly reviews the “value proposition” of Nareit membership to ensure that the benefits and services provided to members is meaningful and fulfills member expectations.

A key component of Nareit’s Finance & Operations team is to regularly bring Nareit members and other stakeholders together via Nareit-spon-sored meetings and conferences, and to ensure that both the experience and the value proposition of these events are highly regarded. These events serve to extend the industry’s core messages, provide educational opportunities to industry professionals, give subject experts a forum to share their viewpoints, and facilitate networking.

In recent years, Nareit’s Finance & Operations team has worked to encourage corporate members to develop and adopt environmental, social, and governance (ESG) best practices in REIT-based real estate investment. This effort includes oversight and direction of Nareit’s annual Leader in the Light awards program and ESG Forum.

Last, but not least, a final objective of the Finance & Operations team relates to the lifeblood of any organization…its people. The Finance & Oper-ations team works to ensure that Nareit has a diverse, qualified professional staff to fulfill the organization’s objectives and allow it to function effectively and efficiently. This critical role not only includes sourcing and hiring of qualified candidates, but also training and nurturing professional staff, promoting professional growth from within, and retaining key talent.

Finance & Operations



Nareit TeamNareit currently has 43 full-time staff with three open positions. Nareit plans to operate at 46 full-time staff moving forward. See pages 49–50 for a complete list of Nareit staff by department.

Corporate MembershipAt the start of 2019, Nareit had 266 corporate members. (256 U.S.-based companies and 10 non U.S.-based).

Board Associate ProgramIndustry service providers support the REIT way of real estate investment through participation in Nareit’s Board Associate Program. In 2018, Nareit welcomed three new board associate companies bringing program participation to 35 for the year. For a full list of Nareit’s Board Associates, see page 52-53.

Board associate member companies receive enhanced benefits and recognition. These benefits include: invitation to three Nareit Advisory Board of Governors dinners held in conjunction with Nareit meetings; recognition on REIT.com; podcast and video interview consideration; and the opportunity for additional interaction with REIT executive management teams.

mREIT CouncilMembers of the mREIT Council are the CEOs and other senior executives from each of Nareit’s corporate members that operate as mREITs.

During the past several years, the mREIT Council has worked on numerous issues of interest to the industry stemming from proposed regulations and statements from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the Treasury Department and its Office of Financial Research, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB), the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and other regulatory and legislative bodies. Nareit regularly follows important meetings, reports and actions taken by the FHFA, FHLB, FSOC and other bodies and notifies the council of relevant developments.

The mREIT Council continues to work on mREIT membership in the FHLBs. The FHFA’s final FHLB Membership Rule terminated the FHLB membership eligibility of most mREIT captive insurance entities as of Feb. 18, 2017, although mREIT captives admitted prior to the rule’s initial proposal were allowed an additional 48 months

The mREIT Council has opposed the FHLB Membership Rule since it was initially proposed and has continued to advocate for either legislative and/or regulatory action to allow all mREIT captives to become eligible for FHLB membership. Nareit sponsored an mREIT Advocacy Day in April 2018, focused on the FHLB Membership Rule. The council will follow this issue closely and will continue to work toward a longer-term solution.

mREIT Council Executive Committee Byron Boston, Dynex Capital (Co-Chair) Phil Reinsch, Capstead Mortgage Corporation (Co-Chair)

John Anzalone, Invesco Mortgage CapitalGary Kain, American Capital Agency Corporation Craig Knutson, MFA FinancialStuart Rothstein, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

2018 New Corporate MembersListed REITsBlack Creek Industrial REIT IV Inc. CorePoint LodgingDevonshire REIT II, Inc.Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc.Industrial Logistics Properties TrustLodging Opportunity Fund REITPlymouth Industrial REIT, Inc.Retail Value Inc.Safety, Income & Growth Inc.

Listed mREITsColony Credit Real Estate, Inc. TPG RE Finance Trust, Inc.Tremont Mortgage Trust

Listed Real Estate CompaniesZayo Group Holdings, Inc.

International Real Estate CompaniesBrookfield Property PartnersPatrimonio Estrategias Inmobiliarias


mREIT Council Executive Committee Byron Boston, Dynex Capital (Co-Chair) Phil Reinsch, Capstead Mortgage Corporation (Co-Chair)

John Anzalone, Invesco Mortgage CapitalGary Kain, American Capital Agency Corporation Craig Knutson, MFA FinancialStuart Rothstein, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Nareit Statement of Activities

Revenues 2018 Audited

Membership Dues $18,048,000Conferences $5,876,000Royalties $5,183,000Investment Income ($1,075,000)Advertising $700,000Publication Sales/Other $653,000TOTAL REVENUES $30,647,000

Expenses 2018 Audited

Finance & Operations $11,807,000Policy & Politics $8,866,000Communications $6,783,000Research & Investor Outreach $4,786,000TOTAL EXPENSES $32,242,000

(From left to right) Nareit CEO Steven Wechsler, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), member of the Senate Banking Committee, Phil Reinsch, CEO, Capstead Mortgage Company, and Ken Pollack, SVP & General Counsel, AGNC Investment Corp. at Nareit’s 2018 mREIT Advocacy Day.



PNLR CouncilMembers of the Public Non-Listed REIT (PNLR) Council are CEOs and other senior executives from each of Nareit’s corporate members that sponsor public non-listed REITs.

The PNLR Council has worked for years on numerous issues of interest to the industry stemming from proposed regulations from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Department of Labor (DOL), the North American Securities Adminis-trators Association (NASAA) and other regulatory and legislative bodies.

The PNLR Council’s primary focus has been the DOL’s so-called Fiduciary Rule that imposes a fiduciary standard on investment advice provided to Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)-covered retirement plans and individual retirement accounts. The final Fiduciary Rule began to take effect in April 2017 and was to become fully effective on Jan. 1, 2018. However, the DOL proposed to delay and reconsider the final Fiduciary Rule, and the OMB subsequently approved the DOL proposed 18-month delay until July 1, 2019.

Following this action, there was a flurry of legal activity. The Fiduciary Rule has been vacated, and the SEC proposed a new Regulation Best Interest Proposal in May. The PNLR Council filed a joint comment letter with the

SEC in August with other groups supporting the SEC’s principles-based proposal. Nareit and the council will continue to follow this issue very closely until final guidance is issued.

Multinational U.S. REIT CouncilThe Multinational U.S. REIT Council helps ensure that Nareit’s leadership is well informed about and effectively addresses key issues tied to global capital flows, cross-border investment matters, international taxation, and other issues of interest to U.S. REITs investing and operating outside the United States.

Nareit invited CFOs of its corporate members that invest and operate outside of the United States to participate in the Multinational U.S. REIT Council. Tom Olinger, CFO of Prologis, was named the council’s 2018 inaugural chair.

The council met three times in its inaugural year. Among the initial issues discussed were: clarification that shareholders that invest in REITs through mutual funds are eligible for the same 20 percent deduction that is available to direct REIT investors; clarification of the Global Intangible Low Taxed Income (GILTI) regime; Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products Regulation (PRIIPs) issues; issues related to the new Markets in Financial Instructions Directive (MiFID II); and issues related to U.S. corporate international debt issuance.

The council will hold four meetings in 2019: two face-to-face and two via conference call.

\In 2017, Nareit launched its Dividends Through

The three most recent Nareit chairmen shared the stage at Nareit’s REITworld.

(Left to right) 2018 Chair Thomas Baltimore, Jr., Park Hotels & Resorts; 2017 Chair David Neithercut, Equity Residential; and

2019 Chair Sandeep Mathrani, Brookfield Properties.

PNLR Council Executive Committee

C. Allan Swaringen, JLL Income Property Trust (Chair) Daniel Goodwin, The Inland Real Estate Group

Charles Schreiber, KBS Realty AdvisorsSherri Schugart, Hines Interests Limited PartnershipMichael Seton, Carter Validus Mission Critical REIT and Carter Validus Mission Critical REIT IIKevin Shields, Griffin Capital Corp.


Nareit’s REITweek 2018 featured more than 100 REITs meeting with investors to discuss their companies. Among those presenting (clockwise from top left) Don Wood of Federal Realty Investment Trust, Debra Cafaro of Ventas, Inc., Bill Stein of Digital Realty, and Maria Hawthorne of PS Business Parks.



Leaders from the global real estate investment community (including Nareit executives) participated in a Real Estate Equity Securitization Alliance meeting in San Francisco.

Nareit Events Connect Industry Professionals More than 6,000 REIT executives, investors, and subject matter experts participated in Nareit’s large-scale conferences and small, targeted forums in 2018. Nareit’s REITweek: 2018 Investor Conference attracted 209 REITs and facilitated 109 individual company presentations to institutional investors at the Hilton New York. Also, for the second-consecutive year, Nareit partnered with the NYSE for the REIT Investor Relations Symposium, where more than 100 REIT investor relations professionals gathered at the New York Stock Exchange to benefit from panel discussions and networking.

Nareit’s REITworld: 2018 Annual Conference drew more than 1,400 REIT executives and investors to the San Francisco Marriott Marquis, where attendees benefited from timely spotlight sessions, one-on-one meetings, and networking events.

In conjunction with the HR Forum, Nareit also held its first Dividends Through Diversity & Inclusion Forum. Nearly 100 industry professionals attended the inaugural event to learn more about diversity and inclusion issues facing the industry.

REESA MeetingsNareit facilitates two semi-annual meetings of the Real Estate Equity Securitization Alliance (REESA). REESA is a coalition that Nareit formed in 2006 comprised of global organizations grounded in one or more facets of securitized real estate equity. Joining Nareit in REESA are: the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association (APREA) based in Singapore; the Association for Real Estate Securitization (ARES) based in Tokyo; the British Property Federation (BPF); the European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA) based in Brussels; the Property Council of Australia (PCA); and the Real Property Association of Canada (REALPAC). REESA’s broad mission is to facilitate the global investment in securitized real estate through increased interaction among REESA member organizations.

In 2018, the REESA meetings (held in Paris and San Francisco) focused on financial standards developments, including the IASB and FASB focus on revamping income statements for entities like REITs; various ESG issues; the ongoing REESA project on the measurement of global commercial real estate assets; and issue updates by each of the REESA member organizations.

The 2019 REESA meetings will be held in Tokyo in March in conjunction with ARES’ investor conference, and in Madrid in September in conjunction with EPRA’s annual conference.

.reit Registrations By Country

Nareit is the registry operator of the generic “.reit” top level domain (gTLD) name on behalf of and for the benefit of the REIT community worldwide. The .reit domain provides global recognition and assurance to internet users that any domain name ending in .reit belongs to a REIT. In 2018, four additional Nareit members registered to use a .reit domain in place of a .com domain to better showcase their company as a REIT.

U.S. ...........................................108

Canada ........................................14

South Africa ................................... 2

France ........................................... 1

UAE ............................................... 1

U.K. ............................................... 1


2019 TO-DO LIST

■ Achieve budgeted revenue and

expense goals, while ensuring

fiscal responsibility.

■ Ensure Nareit events are fiscally

strong and meet the needs of

attendees.

■ Improve and enhance the REIT

industry ESG dashboard on

Nareit’s website.

■ Publish the first-ever Nareit Guide

to ESG Reporting Frameworks.

■ Develop a first-ever REIT industry

sustainability annual report.

2018 Nareit Chair Thomas Baltimore, Jr. (left), CEO of Park Hotels & Resorts, held a fireside chat with former Secretary of State Colin Powell during Nareit’s REITweek 2018 in New York.



ESG IssuesSince 2005, Nareit has been engaged in sustainability issues by actively encouraging the development and adoption of effective sustainability prac-tices in REIT-based real estate investment. Nareit continues to enhance its existing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives and intro-duce new methods to promote recognition of REIT industry leadership in sustainability while facilitating the sharing of knowledge and best practices in the ESG realm. This includes increased focus on highlighting the social and governance issues that are critical to responsible companies..

The Nareit ESG Forum is an annual, hands-on, collaborative workshop that provides Nareit corporate members the opportunity to advance the sustainability conversation and better understand leading sustainability practices among their peers. In January 2019, a record number of attend-ees (134) were in Florida for the 2019 forum. The 2019 event also saw record participation from first-time attendees.

REITs recognize the tremendous impact they can have on the environment, the economy, and the communities they serve. Nareit is developing an inaugural Annual Sustainability Report for the REIT industry to be published in 2019 as a baseline for the progress made to date. Included in the report will be certain data elements collected by real estate data and analytics firm GeoPhy, GRESB data, Nareit member case studies, together with the results of a Nareit corporate member ESG Survey conducted in 2018.

Interest in ESG disclosure by investors and third-party ranking organizations continues to be an increasingly important topic. In 2018, Nareit completed a thorough review of hundreds of performance indicators addressed by the 10 most significant third-party ESG reporting frameworks. Nareit engaged AccountAbility, a global consulting and standards firm, to assist in com-pleting a quality control review, and to develop a concise, user-friendly ESG public reporting frameworks guidance document that would be useful to Nareit corporate members. The Nareit Guide to ESG Reporting Frameworks document will be published in early 2019.



ESG Issues

Investor Outreach & ESG IssuesThe investor community, including institutional investors, asset managers, consultants, and generalists, are showing increased interest in ESG efforts in the REIT industry. In response, Nareit’s Investor Outreach and ESG teams combined to discuss these topics during multiple calls and face-to-face meetings in 2018. These outreach efforts will be continued in 2019.

JumpStart ProgramThe goal of Nareit’s JumpStart program, a real estate sustainability/ESG education initiative, is to provide guidance to Nareit corporate member companies that are either just starting a sustainability program or looking to further develop their existing program. JumpStart provides member companies access to videos, workshops, and presentations.

Real Estate Sustainability CouncilNareit’s Real Estate Sustainability Council (RESC), formed in October 2016, consists of Nareit corporate member sustainability thought leaders—representing all REIT sectors—with a mission to help guide Nareit’s ESG efforts and priorities.

The RESC typically meets three times a year and the first meeting of 2019 took place in January in Florida, in conjunction with Nareit’s ESG Forum. At that meeting, Ari Frankel, assistant vice president, sustainability and high-performance buildings at Alexandria Real Estate Equities, was appointed as RESC chair for 2019.

A Nareit corporate member employee is welcome to represent their organization as a RESC member. Most RESC members hold sustainability titles, however, operations, public relations, and investor relations professionals are also eligible to become RESC members.

Measuring ESG For the U.S. REIT IndustryWith a goal of communicating, for the first time, the U.S. REIT industry’s ESG performance measurements, Nareit continued to work with GeoPhy in 2018 to help quantify and aggregate the industry’s ESG performance. Based, in part, on the GeoPhy data, Nareit developed a REIT Industry ESG Dashboard on reit.com that measures reporting efforts across the industry.

(Top) Nareit Vice President of ESG Issues Fulya Kocak kicked off the 2019 ESG Forum. (Below) The solar installation at Prologis’ International Park of Commerce in Tracy, California.


DDI Initiative Action Team Debbie Coombs, AvalonBay CommunitiesDenise Dank, Duke Realty Leah Landro, Kimco RealtyChristine Riley, Forest City Realty TrustCarolyn Carter Singh, Brixmor Property GroupChristy Contardi Stone, WelltowerTracy Ward, PrologisMandi Wedin, WashREIT

(Left to right) Christie Kelly, formerly with JLL, and Malaika Myers with Hyatt Hotels were among the panelists at Nareit’s Dividends Through Diversity & InclusionForum discussing how to build a robust diversity and inclusion program.

DDI Initiative Steering Committee

(Co-Chairs, left to right) Mary Hogan Preusse, Sturgis Partners Diane Morefield, CyrusOne Sherry Rexroad, BlackRock

Angela Aman, Brixmor Property GroupKelly Cheng, BarclaysWilliam Ferguson, Ferguson PartnersLeslie Hale, RLJ Lodging TrustLisa Kaufman, LaSalle Investment ManagementSheila McGrath, Evercore ISIMarguerite Nader, Equity Lifestyle PropertiesMartin (Hap) Stein, Regency CentersTracy Ward, Prologis

Nareit’s Dividends Through Diversity & Inclusion (DDI) initiative was launched in 2017 to help promote diversity and inclusion in the REIT community.

To achieve its mission, Nareit incorporated diversity and inclusion content into programming at relevant Nareit events in 2018.

In addition, Nareit held its first stand-alone DDI Forum in September in conjunction with Nareit’s HR Forum 2018. The DDI Forum included: a keynote speech on building a diverse leadership pipeline; a panel on what institutional investors want to see regarding diversity on the boards of directors and in the management teams of the companies in which they invest; profiles of long-term, comprehensive diversity and inclusion programs at some of the largest Nareit individual member companies; and research regarding diversity in REITs and in publicly traded companies in the U.S. and around the globe.

Going forward, Nareit will continue to build on these efforts. This includes working with other top commer-cial real estate associations to discuss the various diversity and inclusion initiatives underway and how the groups can work together to maximize the impact to the industry.

Nareit Senior Vice President of Industry Affairs & Strategic Initiatives Bonnie Gottlieb welcomed attendees to Nareit’s first-ever Dividends Through Diversity & Inclusion Forum in September.

Dividends Through Diversity & Inclusion


Each year, Nareit recognizes the achievements and contributions of its members and noted industry professionals.

Industry Leadership and Achievement AwardsNareit presented its 2018 Industry Leadership Award to David Neithercut, former CEO of Equity Residential, and its 2018 Industry Achievement Award to Jamie Behar, who was managing director, real estate and alternative investments, at General Motors Investment Management Corp. Nareit presents its Industry Leadership Award annually to a REIT executive who has made a significant and lasting contribution to the growth and betterment of the industry. The award is presented in memory of Edward H. Linde, the late CEO of Boston Properties.

Neithercut served as Nareit’s Chair in 2015 and was consistently a strong advocate for the REIT industry. He was active in taking the industry’s positions to members of Congress and communicating the value that REITs bring to investors, communities, and the economy.

The Nareit Industry Achievement Award is presented annually to profes-sionals serving the REIT industry whose acumen and integrity have helped heighten awareness and understanding of the value of REITs and publicly traded real estate. The award is presented in memory of E. Lawrence Miller, the former CEO of one of the industry’s first REITs, Bradley Real Estate Trust, and a past Nareit Chair.

During Behar’s 30-year career at General Motors Investment Manage-ment Corporation, she managed a $12 billion portfolio of public and private assets and worked in many aspects of the industry, from asset management to acquisitions and IPOs. Behar also played a key role in the Taubman IPO in 1992, the industry’s first UPREIT, which provided a road map many other real estate companies have since followed and ultimately launched the modern REIT era.

Small Investor Empowerment AwardSen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) received Nareit’s 2019 Small Investor Empowerment Award. The Small Investor Empowerment Award was established on behalf of those people who invest in, are employed by, or derive other benefits from REITs and publicly traded

real estate companies. The annual award recognizes public servants who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to the ideals of free enterprise, economic growth, personal freedom, and unlimited opportunity for all Americans.

Award Winners

David Neithercut

Jamie Behar


Investor CARE Awards Nareit’s Investor CARE Awards—recognizing communications and reporting excellence—are presented annually to the stock exchange traded REITs that have demonstrated superior performanc-es in shareholder communications. All Nareit listed corporate members—approximately 200 compa-nies—are evaluated for the awards each year.

In the Large Cap Equity REIT category, the Gold Award was presented to Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. The Silver Large Cap winner was Camden Property Trust, and the Bronze Large Cap Award was presented to Brixmor Property Group, Inc. for the second consecutive year. In the Small Cap Equity REIT category, this year’s Gold Award was presented to Acadia Realty Trust. TIER REIT, Inc. won the Silver Award and Easterly Government Properties captured the Bronze Award. In the mREIT category, the Gold Award was presented to Starwood Property Trust for the second consecutive year.

Large Cap Small Cap mREITs

Dean Shigenaga, co-president and chief financial officer of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, spoke on behalf of his company upon receiving a Nareit Investor CARE Award.

Gold Gold

Gold

Silver Silver

Bronze Bronze


Award Winners

Representatives from among the 2018 Leader in the Light Awards winners pose with Nareit President and CEO Steven Wechsler (far left) at REITworld 2018

Leader in the Light AwardsNareit’s annual Leader in the Light Awards honor Nareit member companies that have produced superior, measurable results from the implementation of sustainable business practices. In 2018, the Leader in the Light Awards for achievement in sustainability were presented to nine REITs and one individual.

2018 Leader in the Light Winners Data Centers: Digital RealtyDiversified: Vornado Realty TrustHealth Care: Ventas, Inc.Industrial: PrologisLodging/Resorts: Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.Office: Kilroy Realty CorporationResidential/Apartments: Equity ResidentialRetail/Regional Malls: The Macerich CompanyMost Innovative Award: Kilroy Realty Corporation.Leadership Personified Award: Ben Myers, Director, Sustainability, Boston Properties

REITPAC AwardsAvalonBay received the 2018 REITPAC Teamwork Award and Equity Residential received the 2018 REITPAC Leadership Award. Both REITs received these awards in 2017 as well. The REITPAC Teamwork Award recognizes the company that provided funds from the largest number of individuals during the year. The REITPAC Leadership Award is presented annually to the company whose employees contributed the most funds to REITPAC.


Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr. Park Hotels & Resorts Inc.

James B. Connor Duke Realty Corporation

Maria R. Hawthorne PS Business Parks, Inc.

Thomas M. Herzog HCP, Inc.

Christopher P. Marr CubeSmart

Marguerite M. Nader Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc.

Timothy J. Naughton AvalonBay Communities, Inc.

Jeffrey S. Olson Urban Edge Properties

Lisa Palmer Regency Centers Corporation

James F. Risoleo Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.

James D. Taiclet, Jr. American Tower Corporation

2019 Nareit Officers: (l to r) TreasurerMichael J. Schall

President & CEOEssex Property Trust, Inc. Second Vice ChairA. William Stein

CEO, Digital Realty

ChairSandeep Mathrani

CEO, Brookfield Properties RetailVice Chairman, Brookfield Properties

Steven A. Wechsler

President & CEO, Nareit

First Vice ChairOwen D. Thomas

CEO, Boston Properties, Inc.

Executive BoardThe Nareit Executive Board is Nareit’s policy and steering body, responsible for all long-term planning, financial budgets, investments, policy positions, and statements.

Nareit Leadership


Edward K. Aldag, Jr.Medical Properties Trust, Inc.

Peter E. BaccileFirst Industrial Realty Trust, Inc.

William C. Bayless, Jr.American Campus Communities, Inc.

Christopher J. BenjaminAlexander & Baldwin, Inc.

H. Eric Bolton, Jr.MAA

Jon E. BortzPebblebrook Hotel Trust

Byron L. BostonDynex Capital, Inc.

Jay A. BrownCrown Castle International Corp.

Stephen E. BudorickCorporate Office Properties Trust

Frank CohenBlackstone

Victor J. ColemanHudson Pacific Properties, Inc.

Mark O. Decker, Jr.Investors Real Estate Trust

Thomas J. DeRosaWelltower Inc.

Daniel M. DuPreePreferred Apartment Communities, Inc.

Conor C. FlynnKimco Realty Corporation

Jason E. FoxW. P. Carey Inc.

Susan GivensNew Senior Investment Group

Greta GuggenheimTPG RE Finance Trust, Inc.

Kenneth A. GundermanUniti Group, Inc.

Leslie D. HaleRLJ Lodging Trust

William P. HankowskyLiberty Property Trust

David A. HelfandEquity Commonwealth

Mary Hogan-PreusseSturgis Partners LLC

Jackson HsiehSpirit Realty Capital

W. Matthew KellyJBG SMITH

John B. Kilroy, Jr.Kilroy Realty Corporation

Michael P. LandyMonmouth Real Estate Investment Corporation

Joseph D. MargolisExtra Space Storage, Inc.

Anne Segrest McCullochHousing Partnership Equity Trust REIT I, LLC

Paul T. McDermottWashington REIT

William L. MeaneyIron Mountain

E. Nelson MillsColumbia Property Trust

Diane M. MorefieldCyrusOne Inc.

Jennifer W. MurphyWestern Asset Mortgage Capital Corporation

Arlen D. NordhagenNational Storage Affiliates

David L. NunesRayonier Inc.

Scott D. PetersHealthcare Trust of America, Inc.

Paul A. PittmanFarmland Partners Inc.

Sherry L. RexroadBlackRock

Glenn J. RufranoVEREIT, Inc.

Sherri W. SchugartHines Global Income Trust, Inc.

David J. SchulteCorEnergy Infrastructure Trust

Gerard H. SweeneyBrandywine Realty Trust

Amy L. TaitBroadstone Net Lease, Inc.

Steven B. TangerTanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc.

James M. Taylor Jr.Brixmor Property Group Inc.

Christopher H. VolkSTORE Capital Corporation

Julian E. WhitehurstNational Retail Properties, Inc.

Nareit 2019 Advisory Board of Governors


Management & Staff

Steven A. WechslerPresident & CEO

Policy & Politics

Dara Bernstein Senior Vice President, & Tax Counsel

Robert Dibblee Senior Vice President, Government Relations

Christopher Drula Senior Vice President, Financial Standards

John Jones Vice President, Government Relations

Steven Lowery Director, REITPAC & Political Outreach

Victoria Rostow Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs & Deputy General Counsel

George Yungmann Senior Vice President, Financial Standards

Tony M. Edwards Senior Executive Vice President

Cathy Barré Executive Vice President & General Counsel

John Barwick Vice President, Index Management & Industry Information

Meredith Despins Senior Vice President, Investment Affairs & Investor Education

Nicole FunariVice President, Research

Abigail McCarthyVice President, Investment Affairs & Investor Education

Calvin SchnureSenior Vice President, Research & Economic Analysis

Alexandra ThompsonSenior Manager, Research & Industry Information

Kurt WaltenSenior Vice President, Investment Affairs & Investor Education

Research & Investor OutreachJohn D. Worth Executive Vice President, Research & Investor Outreach

Copyright© 2019 by Nareit® All rights reserved.

Nareit is the worldwide representative voice for REITs and listed real estate companies with an interest in U.S. real estate and capital markets. This information is solely educational in nature and is not intended by Nareit to serve as the primary basis for any investment decision. Nareit is not acting as an investment adviser, investment fiduciary, broker, dealer or other market participant and does not allow any agent, employee or representative to personally solicit any investment or accept any monies to be invested in a particular security or real estate investment.


Management & Staff


Matthew Bechard Senior Vice President, Communications

Sarah Borchersen-Keto Editorial Director

Kyle Gustafson Vice President, Content Strategy & Management

Wesley Kirk Vice President & Creative Director

Ron KuykendallVice President, Media & Public Relations

Lizzy LeesManager, Digital Media & Marketing

Diane Rusignola Senior Director, Editorial Content

Robert M. Pflieger

Executive Vice President, Communications & Marketing

Sheldon M. Groner

Executive Vice President, Finance & Operations

Tracie Betts Manager, Operations

Roberto Diaz Senior Vice President, Finance & Fiscal Management

Fulya Kocak Vice President, ESG Issues

Afia Nyarko Boone Vice President, Membership & Meetings

Jose Fajardo Accounts Payable Clerk/Accounting Coordinator

Katelyn Rowland Vice President, Membership & Meetings

Frederick Biney Controller

Victor Dristas Senior Vice President, Operations

Patti McGrawSenior Director, Database & Operations

Chris Flood Senior Vice President, Business Development

Allison Shaw Manager, Operations

Pam Coleman Senior Vice President, Meetings

Bonnie Gottlieb Senior Vice President, Industry Affairs & Strategic Initiatives

Tioni Simmons Director, Human Resources

Margaret Solaqua Director, Office Support



Events

2019March 26 – 28REITwise: 2019 Law, Accounting & Finance ConferenceJW Marriott Hill Country San Antonio, TX

June 4 – 6REITweek: 2019 Investor ConferenceNew York Hilton Midtown New York, NY

Sept. 16Dividends Through Diversity & Inclusion Forum 2019Fairmont Copley Plaza Boston, MA

Sept. 16 – 17SFO Forum 2019Fairmont Copley Plaza Boston, MA

Sept. 16 – 17HR Forum 2019Fairmont Copley Plaza Boston, MA

Nov. 12 – 14REITworld: 2019 Annual ConferenceJW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE, Los Angeles, CA

2020 Feb. 25 – 26CEO Forum & Advocacy Day 2020The Hay-Adams Washington, DC

April 1 – 3REITwise: 2020 Law, Accounting & Finance ConferenceWashington Marriott Marquis Washington, DC

June 2 – 4REITweek: 2020 Investor ConferenceNew York Hilton Midtown New York, NY

Nov. 17 – 19REITworld: 2020 Annual ConferenceAtlanta Marriott Marquis Atlanta, GA

reit.com/events


Executive Board Associates

KPMG LLP

Eastdil Secured/Wells Fargo Securities

Ernst & Young LLP

Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP

Deloitte LLP


Board Associates

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Alston & Bird LLP

KeyBanc Capital Markets

PNC Real Estate

King & Spalding LLP

Morgan Stanley

Morningstar

Hogan Lovells

J.P. Morgan Ferguson Partners, Ltd.

Green Street Advisors

Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Goodwin Procter, LLP

Grant Thornton LLP

Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Duff & Phelps Real Estate Advisory Group

BDO

BMO Capital Markets

Chatham Financial

Citi

Credit Suisse

Barclays

Winston & Strawn LLP

Sidley Austin LLP

Stifel

UBS Securities LLC

Suntrust Robinson Humphrey

Raymond James

RBC Capital Markets

REITs are real estate working for you. Through the properties they own, finance, and operate, REITs help provide the essential real estate we need to live, work, and play. REITs own more than $3 trillion in gross assets across the U.S. and have a U.S. stock market equity market capitalization of more than $1 trillion. In addition, more than 80 million Americans invest in REIT stocks through their 401(k) and other investment funds.

Nareit serves as the worldwide representative voice for REITs and real estate companies with an interest in U.S. income-producing real estate. Nareit’s members are REITs and other real estate companies throughout the world that own, operate, and finance income-producing real estate, as well as those firms and individuals who advise, study, and service those businesses.

Nareit’s MissionTo actively advocate for REIT-based real estate investment with policymakers and the global investment community.

Nareit’s VisionTo ensure that everyone has the opportunity to benefit from real estate investment.

Documents

REITWay · REIT investment proposition, as well as our priorities for 2019. In addition, you will find highlighted four member-owned properties we featured in our Shaping Communities