Alston & Bird was a sponsor, and Rosemarie Thurston Co-Chaired this conference hosted by Information Management Network (IMN). She moderated the "CEO Panel: How to Survive and Thrive as a Non-Traded REIT Amid New Competition and the Distressed Real Estate Environment" on June 24, 10:00am - 11:00am. Her panel addressed the following questions.
- How are your portfolios performing: Are you merely surviving or actually thriving?
- How are your legacy assets impacting your ability to cover dividends?
- What are you doing about loans coming due on your assets that require refinancing?
- Are your existing lenders willing to modify terms of your loans?
- How are you differentiating yourself amid the influx of new Non-Traded REIT products in the market?
- How many products can this market sustain?
- Are you concerned about adverse effects on the industry if a number of new entrants are not successful?
- Are the per-share valuations that have been published under FINRA 09-09 having an impact on the broker dealers?
- Has your REIT published its per share value yet, and if so how was it determined?
- What are your strategies for growing marketing share?
- What investments are you looking for? Distressed or performing? Debt or equity? In what locations? In what classes?
- How competitive is the market for acquisitions?
- What financing strategies are you considering?
- When do you see Real Estate returning to pre-downturn levels?
- What is the mid-long term outlook for the Non-Traded REIT market?
- How do you see the industry evolving?
- What are you doing to position your firm for these changes?
Lesley Solomon presented "Regulatory Update & Perspective: FINRA; SEC & Blue Sky Hot Buttons" on June 24, 11:30am - 12:15pm. Jim Croker will present "A Critical Need-to-Know Tax-Related Issues for Non-Traded REITs in the Current Climate" on June 24, 4:00pm - 5:00pm. The panel covered the latest in tax issues for Non-Traded REITs relating to DRIPs, LTIPs and dividend policies, along with the key tax-related issues for investing in distressed debt and distressed real estate. The panel addressed the following topics.
- Issues raised by dividend timing and measurement protocols
- Distribution channel tax issues
- Buying debt to get to the underlying property: Understanding the key tax-related issues
- Net operating loss ('NOL') and capital loss carry-forward
- Cancellation of debt issues
- Cash management and dividends payable partially in stock
- Market discount rates
- Potential carried interest changes
- Significant modifications of debt instruments
- Financing issues and prohibited transactions
- Foreclosures and bad debt deductions
- 'Principal amount' of debt obligations concerns
June 24-25, 2010
Marriott Financial Center / New York, NY