The SOCIMIs in Spain. An investment opportunity in the real estate sector

Abstract

The purpose of the present work is to analyze the SOCIMIs (Real estate listed investment trusts in Spain), its performance and its potential as a diversification asset between June 2014 and December 2017. The tax advantages they offer, the main incentive for the creation of these types of companies, are bringing about an increase in development of real estate investment in Spain, which is behind other developed markets where they are generally called REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts). First, the characteristics, operation, evolution in the market, portfolios and shareholders' composition are studied. Next, the analysis shows high performance levels measured by the modified Sharpe Ratio and the Jensen's Alpha for the main SOCIMIs on the market as well as a high portfolio diversification potential demonstrated by the Markowitz Efficient Frontier Model. SOCIMIs are characterized by being less risky investments than the market in general. Compared to traditional Real estate listed companies on the continuous market, SOCIMIs show better performance and lower levels of risk and, in general, all the companies studied-SOCIMIs and traditional Real estate listed companies-can be defined as defensive investments, less risky than the market.