At CDL, we are focused on delivering long term sustainable value to our shareholders. To this end, we continue to enhance the performance of our portfolio via active asset management. Beyond strengthening our income stream, our active asset management approach allows us to preserve and increase asset value.
To complement our deep expertise in property development, we have been accelerating the momentum of our investments, diversifying our geographic base and also building up our fund management business.
Apart from generating attractive long-term, risk-adjusted returns for our investors and shareholders, the fund management platform will also allow us to diversify our earnings, enhance recurring income streams and widen our investor base. This strategy will enable CDL to tap on the growing appetite of institutional investors for unlisted real estate funds and concurrently deliver a higher return on equity to shareholders.
CDL’s goal is to be a leading fund manager in Asia by 2023 and our target is to achieve US$5 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM) by then.
Notably, CDL Hospitality Trusts (CDLHT) – one of Asia’s leading hospitality trusts with assets valued at S$3.1 billion – is part of the CDL Group’s portfolio. Listed on the Singapore Exchange on 19 July 2006, CDLHT comprises CDL Hospitality Real Estate Investment Trust (H-REIT), a real estate investment trust, and CDL Hospitality Business Trust (HBT), a business trust. It currently owns 18 properties – 17 hotels in Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, UK, Germany and Maldives, as well as a retail mall in Singapore. Leveraging the global reach and hospitality management expertise of its sponsor, the Group’s London-based hotel subsidiary Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Limited (M&C), H-REIT is the first hotel REIT in Asia (ex Japan). CDLHT is managed by M&C REIT Management Limited and M&C Business Trust Management Limited, subsidiaries of M&C.
In April 2019, the Group acquired a 50% stake in IREIT Global Group Pte. Ltd., the manager of Singapore-listed IREIT Global, and currently owns 21% of the total issued units in IREIT Global. Besides being earnings accretive with immediate contribution to recurring income through management fees and attractive yields, the investment also strengthens CDL’s fund management expertise and establishes our track record.
