Corporate Governance Rankings
Increasingly, shareholders are scrutinizing the corporate governance practices of publicly traded companies. Listed REITs are regularly lauded by independent agencies for their strong corporate governance practices. For example, RiskMetrics Group ranks REITs near the top of its corporate governance rankings of approximately 60 industries. The Real Estate category (which consists mainly of listed REITs) ranked second as of June 2008.
Good corporate governance is reflected in higher valuations‑that is, companies that have high governance ratings are also those that tend to have higher valuations in the marketplace as well as stronger total returns.
RiskMetrics Group Corporate Governance Rankings, June 2008
|
Industry Group
|
Average Index CGQ,
June 2008
|
|
Utilities
|
68.9
|
|
Real Estate
|
56.4
|
|
Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences
|
55.5
|
|
Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment
|
54.3
|
Health Care Equipment & Services
|
52.4
|
|
Banks
|
52.2
|
|
|
51.6
|
|
|
50.8
|
|
Insurance
|
50.6
|
|
Materials
|
50.5
|
Technology Hardware & Equipment
|
50.5
|
|
Overall Average
|
50.3
|
Real Estate Portfolio latest coverage of CGQ rankings
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