REITS, REOCS Slip Despite Soft Stock Markets

August 2, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Public markets' ownership of real estate declined across all property types last year, despite a softer stock market during 2000, its first decline in four years.

According to a report from Prudential Real Estate Investors (PREI), the declines in ownership through real estate investment trusts (REITs) and real estate operating companies (REOCs) ranged from:

  • a 0.4% decline for non-mall retail properties,
  • to a 0.5% slip in apartments, offices and warehouses,
  • to a 2.2% decline for mall retail properties

A shrinking supply of capital was cited as a factor in the decline, although the fall in the equity markets was perceived to have led investors to alternatives assets, such as real estate.

Never miss a story — sign up for PLANSPONSOR newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan benefits news.

In the first five months of the year REITs have raised almost two-thirds as much in new financing as they did during all of 2000, according to the report.

PREI said the decline in public market real estate ownership stems from three trends in the marketplace:

  • sales outstripped acquisitions as companies took advantage of favorable market conditions and focused portfolios on core assets
  • REITs and REOCs failed to keep pace with the growth of commercial real estate brought about by new development. Office construction accelerated while construction of other property types held steady.
  • the number of large participants fell as publicly traded real estate companies merged or privatized.

A full copy of the report is available on PREI’s website at http://www.prudential.com/inst/business/prei/itbrz1004.html .

Fiserv Picks Up TPA

January 8, 2001 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Fiserv has acquired Benefit Planners, a third-party provider of administrative services for employee benefit programs.

Benefit Planners was formed in 1982 to provide claims and administrative services to self-funded employer health plans. The company services more than 200 self-insured employer groups representing over 300,000 participants throughout the United States, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. Benefit Planners currently has more than 500 employee benefit staff.

Benefit Planners will continue operations under the same management team, operating philosophy and corporate culture as before the acquisition. The company’s headquarters will remain in Boerne, Texas, near San Antonio.

Get more!  Sign up for PLANSPONSOR newsletters.

Brookfield, Wisconsin-based Fiserv provides integrated data processing and information management systems to the financial industry, and currently serves the insurance processing needs of more than 2,300 clients nationwide.

«