GWL Investment Management Ltd.
Canadian Real Estate Investment Fund No. 1
Second Quarter 2008
Market Overview
C
onsidering the worrisome backdrop of inflation concerns spurred by rapidly rising oil prices, the still high Canadian dollar and the on-going credit crisis, Canadian real estate markets, for the most part, continue to exhibit positive fundamentals. Western Canadian markets have cooled relative to 2007, but remain strong, while Eastern Canadian markets have been surprisingly resilient with high occupancy levels, strong rents
and modestly increasing values for high quality assets. Overall, appraised values continue to show solid appreciation as a result of good leasing activity and modest rental gains. On the downside, rising construction costs and some larger industrial vacancies have put some downward pressure on returns
Fund Profile
Source of Return
Source of Return
Current Quarter YTD 2007 December 31 2006 2005
Real Estate Market (Gross) Less Encumbrances Real Estate at Market (Net) Net Receivables (Payables) Cash and Cash Equivalents Market Value of Fund
$Millions $3,541.3 $ 623.0 $2,918.3 $ (22.8) $ 793.6 $3,689.1
Income Capital Gain/(Loss) Gross Return
1.3% 1.4
2.7% 2.7
6.0% 9.9
6.4% 11.7
7.0% 7.2
2.7%
5.4%
15.9%
18.1%
14.2%
Annual Returns (%)
as of June 30th
20 18 16.9 16 14.5 15.8 14 12 10.4 10.8 10.7 9.7 9.4 10 8.1 8 6.4 6 4 2 0 2008 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99
Annualized Returns (%)
as of June 30, 2008
20 18 16 14.5 15.2 15.8 14.2 14 13.0 11.8 11.5 11.4 11.3 11.2 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Years
Portfolio Activity
A
cquisition activity in the second quarter was highlighted by the addition of two shopping centres. A 70% interest in a Wal-Mart anchored property in Quebec City was acquired for $14.7 million. This acquisition achieves two portfolio objectives; an increased weighting in Quebec and adding to the Fund’s retail weighting. Also, a 70% interest in a 144, 900 square foot, unenclosed neighbourhood shopping centre located in Surrey B.C. was purchased for $27.1 million. The property has a strong tenant roster that will provide long-term cash flow to the Fund. As reported previously, in order to reduce the Fund’s weighting in Alberta, several of the Fund’s non-core assets are for sale. In the second quarter sales included a 100% interest in a suburban Calgary office park for $48.25 million, a 100% interest in a Calgary industrial property for $10.15 million and a 70% interest in a suburban Edmonton office building was sold for $17.9 million.
Looking forward, Fund management will be carefully monitoring the Ontario market which is under considerable negative pressure, particularly in the manufacturing sector. The Fund’s weighting in the Ontario industrial sector is only about 9% with no material exposure to the auto sector, most properties being warehouse, logistic or distribution facilities. Over the next six months, The Fund will continue to execute several development projects, selectively add quality properties to the portfolio and pay off maturing mortgages to reduce current high cash balances. Two major office acquisitions, which will add about $268 million in value to the Fund, are currently in due diligence At June 30, 2008 there were 173 properties in the portfolio.
Property Distribution at June 30, 2008
Location
B.C. Alta. Ont. Quebec 3% Atlantic 1% U.S. 1% 14% 32% 49%
Type
Office Retail Industrial Multi-Family Other 4%
May not add due to rounding
50% 11% 17% 18%
Vacancy Rates
Property Type
Dec 31 2006 Industrial Office Retail Multi-Family Total 6.6% 9.4 2.8 1.8 6.2% Dec 31 2007 6.6% 5.8 3.0 3.0 5.3% Jun 30 2008 8.0% 5.1 2.2 3.0 5.4%
Location
Dec 31 2006 British Columbia Alberta Ontario Quebec & Atlantic U.S. Total 4.2% 3.3 7.9 6.0 11.2 6.2% Dec 31 2007 2.3% 4.2 6.2 7.5 0.0 5.3% Jun 30 2008 2.5% 3.1 5.9 12.8 0.0 5.4%
For further information on this investment fund please contact:
GWL
Investment Management Ltd.
www.gwlim.ca Tel: (204) 946-7988 Fax: (204) 946-8818 2C – 100 Osborne Street N., Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3A5