D
ean Orrico, President, CEO, and portfolio manager at Middlefield Capital Corp., has a long history with the property business. Growing up, he'd listen to his family friends' shop talk as developers and builders. After earning an MBA, he joined Middlefield Capital in 1996 as an analyst when Canadian real estate investment trusts were going public. His experience has served him well; Middlefield's Real Estate Dividend Class mutual fund and ETF have outpaced the S&P/TSX Capped REIT Total Return Index since 2011.

    Orrico is more bullish on Canadian than U.S. REITs, citing lower valuations in Canada. He believes that as interest rates fall, Canadian REITs will benefit from a catch-up trade. Strong demand and limited supply of new apartments and condos will drive up rents, while the federal government's efforts to reduce immigration may exacerbate this trend.

    Orrico likes apartment REITs such as CAPREIT, Killam Apartment REIT, and Boardwalk REIT, which benefits from higher rents in Alberta due to a lack of rent control. He also favors retail REITs like First Capital REIT and RioCan REIT due to the limited supply of new grocery-anchored shopping centers.

    Seniors' housing REITs Chartwell Retirement Residences and Sienna Senior Living are top holdings for Orrico, as they've recovered from pandemic-related challenges and are poised to benefit from an aging population. He also owns U.S. cell-tower REITs SBA Communications and Crown Castle, as well as data-center REIT Equinix.

    Orrico is cautious on office REITs due to the work-from-home trend, but sees potential for recovery in the long term. He owns indirect exposure to office REITs through investment firms Blackstone and Brookfield.