FFRTFederal Realty Investment Trust

Federal Realty owns retail and mixed-use districts in the most expensive neighbourhoods of a few cities.

The strategy is not the number of properties but their location: districts in high-income, densely built neighbourhoods where there is simply nowhere to build new retail space. Such property is expensive, but a tenant pays for footfall that does not exist elsewhere.

Some properties have been rebuilt as mixed-use districts with flats and offices above the shops: residents create footfall for the tenants, and the tenants make the housing more attractive. The company has raised its dividend for longer than any other property trust, and that is its signature. Risks: tenant bankruptcies, interest rates and redevelopment costs.