Whats the investment philosophy behind managing the First American Real Estate Securities Fund?
There are three important aspects to our philosophy. First, we invest on a relative value basis. That approach requires a consistent investment process and enough knowledge of the individual companies to appropriately value them. If youre confident in your price targets, then you have the ability to trade around those targets. Second, we believe that the industry expertise is crucial because we aim to understand the increasingly complex companies better than our peers. We also dig into companies that are not widely followed by the Street as that knowledge provides first-strike capacity. So we have deep industry contacts and strong relationships with REIT management teams. The third important aspect is the focus on quality companies. In the commercial real estate space, the quality companies are the ones that can grow their cash flow over time. We prefer companies with consistent focus and track record of growing cash flow because they get better multiples and provide downside protectio
