The real action – and the No.1 reason fund managers attend – is the behind closed doors meetings with listed companies of all shapes and sizes. The meetings take place in hotel rooms a floor or two above the main stage.
At stockbroker Citi’s annual conference in Sydney this week, there were more than 60 management teams engaged in 3000 or so closed door meetings.And the mood? Better than expected – at least as far as the big listed companies are concerned. “But here, a lot of the companies that feel like they are undervalued are getting really good books of meetings from people that want to talk to them, so that’s been quite buoyant.”
It is not surprising: the average REIT is trading at a 23 per cent discount to net tangible asset backing, Morgan Stanley’s analysts told clients on Monday. Investors are wrestling knowing that residential and industrial real estate is strong, but what about office property valuations? Do they have further to fall? The answers to all those questions are wrapped up in interest rates and the outlook for bond yields, complicating the matter.