Industry leaders and experts announced that they were teaming up to promote market awareness of commercial real estate derivative products.

The Real Estate Derivatives Special Interest Group (RED-SIG) is made up of representatives from REITs, institutional investors, tax professionals, academia, trade associations and members of the analyst community. The group is co-chaired by Michael Giliberto, director of portfolio strategy within the Real Estate and Infrastructure Investment Group at JPMorgan Asset Management, and Mark Roberts of Invesco Real Estate. Phil Barker, senior vice president of CBRE/GFI, is serving as vice chair of the coalition.

"The U.S. commercial real estate market is estimated to be in excess of $6 trillion—and is the only major asset class not currently supported by a robust derivative market," Barker said. "Commercial real estate derivatives offer investors a new set of tools for obtaining exposure to the real estate markets, and for managing the risks inherent in their portfolios. RED-SIG aims to provide easy, free access to useful and important information for any investor considering real estate derivatives in their portfolio."

NAREIT will be represented on RED-SIG's advisory council by executive vice president for research and investor outreach Michael Grupe.

[reit deals] BPG Snatches Boston Capital REIT Private equity group BPG Properties Ltd. acquired Boston Capital Real Estate Investment Trust Inc. in mid-January for $265 million. The cash transaction reflects an average price of $13.30 per share for Boston Capital, a 33 percent premium to the non-traded REIT's initial offering. BPG assumed Boston Capital's debt and other fees in the acquisition. In the deal, BPG acquired 11 apartment properties with a total of 3,100 units in the deal, including assets in Florida, the Pacific Northwest and Texas.

[global development] Pakistan Kicks Off REIT Era In February, Pakistan officially introduced its national REIT regulations following months of discussion, making it the latest-emerging market country to adopt REIT rules. The new REIT regime unveiled by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan mirrors those of many around the globe. For example, managers would be required to distribute at least 90 percent of a trust's income as dividends to shareholders in each financial year to avoid taxation. Each REITs' management company is required to maintain at least 20 percent of the trust's shares, but cannot hold more than 50 percent. Initially, REITs can be only formed in the cities of Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta. Also, a REIT's minimum fund size is equivalent to approximately $80 million.