Traded and Non-Traded REIT to Merge
(Dec 2012)
Earlier this week, American Realty Capital Properties (ARCP), a traded REIT under the American Realty Capital (ARC) family of real estate investments, announced that it will be merging with American Realty Capital Trust III (ARCTIII), a non-traded REIT in the same family. Investors in ARCTIII will be entitled to either $12.00 in cash or $12.26 per share in ARCP stock, a significant premium over the $10 per share purchase price.
This merger is remarkable for a number of reasons. While the...
Another Non-Traded REIT Revises Share Value Downwards
(Dec 2012)
Following in the footsteps of several other large non-traded REITs, Wells Timberland REIT has revised its estimated per share value down to $6.56, from approximately $9.50 reported in the company's last 10-Q. The shares were sold for $10.00 per share starting in August 2006 and as late as December 2011.
Non-traded REITs are largely illiquid real estate investments that can be sold to retail investors but are not traded on major exchanges (see our white paper on non-traded REITs for details)....
Massachusetts Securities Regulators Getting Tough on Non-Traded REITs
(Dec 2012)
LPL Financial, the largest independent broker-dealer in the US, is being sued by Massachusetts securities regulators for "numerous regulatory violations in connection with the sale of non-traded REITs." We have covered non-traded REITs extensively on this blog, as well as in a detailed working paper, and it appears that many of the problems that have been identified with these products are finally attracting attention from regulators.
According to the complaint, the action is specifically...
SEC Charges KCAP Financial with Overvaluing Assets
(Nov 2012)
The SEC alleges that KCAP Financial, a publicly traded business development company (BDC), did not accurately report the fair value of its corporate debt and collateralized loan obligation (CLO) assets during the financial crisis, thereby misleading investors. According to the press release, KCAP valued some of their assets at cost, not at fair market value, overstating the net asset value by over 25% during the peak of the financial crisis.
BDCs are similar to REITs in that they hold...
Leveraged Exposure to the Mortgage REIT Sector
(Oct 2012)
Michael Aneiro over at Barron's pointed out an interesting recent SEC 424(b)2 filing from ETRACS for their Monthly Pay 2x Leveraged Mortgage REIT ETN (MORL). According to the prospectus, the ETNs will "provide a monthly compounded two times leveraged long exposure to the performance of the [Market Vectors Global Mortgage REITs Index], reduced by the Accrued Fees." This ETN is essentially a leveraged version of Market Vectors Mortgage REIT ETF (MORT) which tracks the same underlying index.
...
FINRA Fines and Suspends David Lerner for Apple REIT Ten Misrepresentations
(Oct 2012)
Today, FINRA fined David Lerner Associates $14 million, including $12 million in restitution to investors, for charging excessive markups and misleading investors in a non-traded real estate investment trust (REIT) known as Apple REIT Ten. They also suspended David Lerner himself for one year from the securities industry and for two more years from acting as principal for a securities firm. From the news release:
As the sole distributor of the Apple REITs, DLA solicited thousands of...
Big Wall Street Firms Pressure Their Salesmen to Favor House-Brands
(Jul 2012)
Financial advisors and brokers are bound by ethical guidelines to analyze and recommend investment products that are suitable and appropriate for their clients' investment objectives and tolerance for risk. In general, they are obliged to put their clients' best interests ahead of their own.
The New York Times reported Monday on the recent admission from a former JPMorgan mutual fund advisor that he sold JPMorgan funds over similar offerings from outside JPMorgan for no other reason than to...
SEC Investigation into Largest Non-Traded REIT May Be A Sign of Things To Come
(May 2012)
As discussed in the financial press (see articles from InvestmentNews and Wall Street Journal) and the company's latest quarterly reports, Inland American Real Estate Trust is the subject of an ongoing SEC investigation. The SEC probe is determining whether the company incurred in any violations of the federal securities laws with regards to its fees, company organization structure, distributions paid to investors, and reported property impairments. Inland American is the largest non-traded...
The "New" Non-Traded REITs Look a Lot Like the Old Ones
(May 2012)
Yesterday's Wall Street Journal had an article describing the "new versions" of non-traded real estate investment trusts (REITs), which purport to solve some of the transparency issues which have made non-traded REITs the subject of regulatory scrutiny. In particular, several non-traded REITs are now offering daily updated net asset values (NAV) in an attempt to calm concerns regarding the lack of transparency in the pricing of non-traded REITs.
However, a review of the prospectus for...
Latest Non-Traded REIT Valuations: Not Good...
(Apr 2012)
Non-traded REITs are real estate investments sold to retail investors despite significant liquidity, transparency, and other risks. We've done a great deal of work on non-traded REITs (including a paper and blog posts), and have warned that their dividend payments and debt levels are often not sustainable. Almost all non-traded REITs are reported in customer accounts at acquisition cost, despite widespread declines in real estate values.
FINRA has recently required non-traded REITs to report...
