Manulife US REIT 55% Gearing: Why It Failed | Daily Digest — 31 March 2026 |🦖EP1516
OUE REIT posts a 6.2% yield and clears my 4.7% forensic hurdle — but the balance sheet is still carrying 38.5% gearing against my 35% ceiling, and NAV per unit slipped from 58 cents to 56 cents while the DPU improved. That is not a recovery. That is a distribution built on a shrinking foundation. OUE Limited is worse: a 1.8% yield against three consecutive years of nine-figure losses driven by China associate exposure, while Manulife US REIT sold a Los Angeles tower at a loss and still sits at 55.3% pro-forma gearing — above the MAS 50% regulatory limit
In a world where the Singapore T-Bill is paying 1.46% for zero risk and CPF SA anchors at 4.0%, the 3.2% forensic floor plus 150 basis points risk premium is not optional — it is the minimum rent you charge for leaving sanctuary. Two of these three names cannot pay that rent. Yield printed on a screen and yield that survives a rate shock are not the same number.
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