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Hey fellow REIT investors! Welcome back to the channel. Today, I’m sharing the top 4 core REITs in my personal portfolio! These aren’t just random picks for the purpose of making a YouTube video or a post – I own each and every one of these REITs. 

They form the core holdings of my REIT portfolio, providing a solid foundation of stability and growth for my eventual retirement. These are my biggest holdings, and are the ones that I’ll be keeping a close watch on in 2025 for opportunities to add more. 

I chose these top 4 core REITs because together, they cover all the key sectors for strategic diversification: retail, office, industrial, healthcare, and global hospitality. These REITs offer a nice mix of steady Singapore-based properties and growth-oriented overseas assets. 

But there’s the twist in my post today: there’s a popular REIT that I’ve decided to leave out of my core holdings, and I’ll reveal which REIT this is, and explain why later in the post. But if you’ve been following my channel, you might already have an idea which one it is!

But first, let me remind you that this post is for informational purposes only and not financial advice. Always consult a licensed financial adviser to ensure your investments align with your goals. I own the REITs discussed in this post, but what works for me might not work for you.

Alright, let’s get started!

Why Core and Satellite Investments Matter

Before we dive into the REITs, let’s take a moment to talk about the concept of core and satellite investments. This is a framework I use to organize my portfolio in a way that balances stability and growth while managing risk. It’s especially useful if you’re a long-term investor like me, where selecting quality REITs for the core is just as important as boosting the overall yield of the portfolio with some risk for the satellite. Or simply put, capital preservation is just as important as capital growth.

So, what’s the difference?

The core of your portfolio is to be made up of steady, reliable REITs. These are the ones you can hold for the long haul. They won’t make you rich overnight, but they provide consistent income, lower risk, and strong fundamentals. Because they are more stable, they tend to deliver lower but predictable returns compared to the more adventurous REITs.

On the other hand, satellite investments are where things get a bit more exciting. These REITs carry higher risk, but they also offer the potential for higher returns. They’re often tied to specific sectors or trends, like data centres or overseas markets, where performance can be more volatile but rewarding if you get it right.

Now, what about the proportion of core vs. satellite? For me, I keep my core portfolio at around 70% to 80% of my total REIT holdings. This gives me a solid foundation that I can rely on, no matter what the market does. The remaining 20% to 30% is for my satellite REITs, those higher-risk plays that help boost returns and diversify my portfolio.

If you’re a long-term investor, having a strong core is critical. The goal is to build a portfolio that can weather different market cycles without losing sleep at night. Sure, the satellite REITs might be more exciting, but the core holdings are what keep the ship steady.

With this core-and-satellite structure, I get the best of both worlds: stability from my core REITs and opportunistic growth from my satellite investments.

So, with that in mind, let’s dive into the 4 core REITs in my portfolio that I’ll continue to buy in 2025.

1. CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust or CICT

Let’s kick things off with the REIT that should not surprise anyone: CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust. If you’re looking for stability and income, this is one of the most reliable REITs in the market. CICT is Singapore’s largest REIT with a well-diversified portfolio of retail, office, and integrated developments. 

You’ve probably been to some of its key shopping centres: Raffles City, Plaza Singapura, Bugis Junction, and Funan, just to name a few. These are prime, centrally located properties that will continue to attract shoppers, and hence the tenants will follow.

CICT’s recent S$1.1 billion acquisition of ION Orchard is a game booster. While the asset came at a premium, I believe it was a smart move to strengthen CICT’s dominance in Singapore’s retail scene, especially in the prime Orchard Road shopping belt. The retail sector has been resilient, and with tourism picking up, footfall in Orchard Road should remain robust in 2025.

On the office front, I remain cautiously optimistic. While I’ve talked about potential challenges for the Singapore office market in my previous post, I believe CICT’s diversified tenant mix and prime locations provide a cushion against weaker demand as tenants rationalise the amount of space required due to work-from-home trends.

Currently, the REIT has a dividend yield of 5.5%, and a price to net asset value of 0.93, which is attractive given the quality of its assets. In my view, CICT is a core REIT for any Singapore investor, offering steady income and defensive qualities.

2. Mapletree Industrial Trust or MIT

Next up is Mapletree Industrial Trust, one of my all-time favorites for its exposure to both Singapore’s industrial properties and US data centres.

MIT has transformed significantly over the years. What started as a primarily Singapore-focused industrial REIT has grown into a global player in the data centre space, which accounts for 55.9% of its total portfolio, with the majority in the US.

Why does this matter? Well, the Singapore industrial properties provides the steady backbone of MIT’s quarterly distributions, while the data centres which is essential to the digital economy, including computing and cloud infrastructure, provides the growth proposition for the REIT. With its substantial US data centre exposures, MIT is well-positioned to ride this long-term trend.

Now, I know there are concerns about demand in the US data centre market arising from the developments in Chinese-made DeepSeek AI, but MIT has high-quality assets and long-term leases that can provide the necessary buffers during volatile periods. In addition, we have seen fears due to DeepSeek receding, with the main victim, Nvidia, recovering most of its share price drop.   Meanwhile, its Singapore industrial properties continue to offer high occupancy rate at 92.7% with rental reversion of +9.8%, providing steady income and helping balance the portfolio.

For me, MIT offers the perfect mix of growth and stability, at a high dividend yield of 6.68%, which is why it remains a key holding.

If you’ve been enjoying this post so far, do this uncle a favor: give it a like and hit that subscribe button! You wouldn’t want to miss my upcoming post on the REITs in my satellite portfolio and other deep-dive REIT analyses! Alright, let’s get back to it.

3. Parkway Life REIT or PLife REIT

Let’s move on to Parkway Life REIT, one of the most defensive REITs in my portfolio. PLife focuses on healthcare properties, with its core assets being three private hospitals in Singapore: Mount Elizabeth, Gleneagles, and Parkway East.

Healthcare is one of those sectors that’s practically recession-proof. People need medical services regardless of the economic environment, which makes PLife one of the most reliable income-generating REITs around.

What’s even better is that PLife has been expanding into Japan’s nursing home sector, which offers great long-term growth potential due to Japan’s aging population.

PLife’s rental structure is highly defensive, with built-in rental escalations linked to inflation. This helps protect its income in an environment where costs are rising.

Although it has a lower yield of 3.85% currently, if you’re looking for a low-risk, high-stability REIT, Parkway Life is hard to beat. Its DPU has been increasing for 17 straight years since IPO, even across the volatile COVID years. 

4. CapitaLand Ascott Trust or CLAS

Finally, I have CapitaLand Ascott Trust, which gives me exposure to the global hospitality sector via one of the most attractive hospitality brands in the world.

CLAS owns a diversified portfolio of 100 serviced residences, hotels, and rental housing properties across 45 key cities worldwide in 16 countries. As international travel continues to recover worldwide, CLAS may continue to benefit from the surge in tourism and business travel.

One thing I like about CLAS is its shifting focus towards long-stay assets, which provide a more stable income stream compared to traditional hotels. This consists of 17% of its total assets, but the REIT intends to increase this to 25% to 30%. Its geographical diversification across Asia, Europe, and the US also helps reduce risk.

Recent acquisitions in key gateway cities have strengthened its portfolio, and 2025 could be another positive year, provided current recovery trends in travel continue. The attractive dividend yield of 6.93% is the highest among the 4 core REITs, reflecting higher volatility arising from the hospitality sector.  

The One REIT I’m Leaving Out

Now, before we wrap up, let’s talk about one popular REIT that didn’t make it into my core holdings: Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, or MPACT.

If you’ve been following my channel, you’ll know I’ve already shared my thoughts on MPACT’s challenges in a previous post. While I love VivoCity, the flagship asset in its portfolio, MPACT’s exposure to Hong Kong retail properties remains a concern for me.

The retail sector in Hong Kong is still struggling due to weak tenant sales and competition from Shenzhen malls. This has affected MPACT’s operational metrics, especially in its overseas properties. On top of that, its latest results didn’t convince me that a strong recovery is on the horizon. In fact, the performance of its Mapletree Business City seem to be deteriorating, which is a major worry for me.

That’s why, despite its strong assets, I’ve decided to exclude MPACT as part of my core holdings. I’ll need to see a stronger turnaround before reconsidering its place in my portfolio.

The Dividend Uncle’s Take

So, there you have it! the 4 REITs I’ll continue to buy in 2025, along with the one I’m staying cautious on for now. Together, these core holdings give me a well-rounded portfolio with exposure to retail, office, industrial, healthcare, and global hospitality.

Of course, no investment is without risks. For CICT, there is a potential risk from declining office demand; for MIT, challenges in the overvalued AI sector may hit the data centre market in the US; for PLife REIT, any unexpected incidents may affect the reputations of its key hospitals; and finally, foreign currency risks due to the global exposure of CLAS may result in volatility in its dividends. However, I believe that having these 4 REITs together in a core portfolio for me can offer a solid balance of income and growth for the long term.

What do you think? Are you holding any of these REITs, or do you have other favorites? Let me know in the comments!

And if you found this post helpful, don’t forget to like and subscribe for more deep-dive REIT analysis. Until next time, happy investing!