Ryan Dennison, senior vice president, capital markets and investor relations, at American Campus Communities, participated in a video interview during REITwise 2022: Nareit’s Law, Accounting & Finance Conference held in Orlando, Florida on March 23-25.
Dennison said that the interest rate environment has been declining since 1980, so REITs should consider laddering their financing in order to spread out their maturities. “[Then] you can make sure to run your business consistently over the long-term,” he said.
He also said that investors have responded positively to REITs’ increased use of at-the-market offerings, particularly because lower fees make all-in costs to raise capital lower than regular deals.
Dennison added that increased private equity investment in the student housing sector has been “a big positive.”
“Private equity [and] sovereign wealth…[are very] good long-term investors that have understood our space over time,” he said.