They include Richard Anderson, director of Reit at BMO Capital Markets in New York, and Sam Zell, founder and chairman of the largest Reit group in the US, Equity Office Properties and Equity Residential.

The South African speaker panel includes Norbert Sasse, CEO of SA’s largest listed property company, Growthpoint Properties; Sam Hackner, CEO of Investec Private Bank and chairman of Growthpoint; and Mike Flax, CEO of listed property loan stock company Spearhead.

The Property Loan Stock Association says SA lags behind major world markets in the shift to a Reit structure and that its members support the repositioning of the listed property sector towards a Reit environment.

The conference aims to equip delegates with a comprehensive understanding of the effect and implications of adopting a Reit structure in SA.

Brian Azizollahoff, CEO of listed property loan stock company Redefine Income Fund and chairman of the marketing subcommittee of the Property Loan Stock Association, said in May the body had recognised that if the listed property sector was to become recognisable to international investors, it had to take on the “identity in line with international trends and standards”.

Reits combined the “best” of both the property unit trusts and property loan stock companies, he said. A Reit had an unlimited borrowing capacity, as did a South African property loan stock company, whereas a property unit trust could borrow only up to 30% of total assets.

Like a property unit trust, a Reit did not pay capital gains tax. Azizollahoff said a property unit trust or loan stock company could be converted to a Reit.