Investing in property: how Reits can help your portfolio fight inflation

Finding an income that keeps pace with inflation is getting harder, but real-estate investment trusts (Reits) can help. Look for a mix of growth and beaten-down value to build a balanced portfolio, says Cris Sholto Heaton

Singapore
Singapore real estate will benefit from the decline of Hong Kong
(Image credit: © Alamy)

One of the biggest headaches that investors face in this climate is finding a steady income that has some protection against inflation. This isn’t a new thought: we’ve been wrestling with declining yields on most investments for more than a decade. But for much of that time, the big risk from inflation was what might happen in future rather than the immediate trend.

That risk no longer seems so far away. Prices are rebounding strongly as we emerge from the pandemic. UK consumer price inflation hit 2.5% in June, the highest for three years; in the US the inflation rate is 5.4%, a level it hasn’t reached since 2008. Yet central banks are saying they see this as transitory and so monetary policy is likely to remain loose.

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Cris Sholto Heaton

Cris Sholto Heaton is an investment analyst and writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2006 and was managing editor of the magazine between 2016 and 2018. He is especially interested in international investing, believing many investors still focus too much on their home markets and that it pays to take advantage of all the opportunities the world offers. He often writes about Asian equities, international income and global asset allocation.

Cris began his career in financial services consultancy at PwC and Lane Clark & Peacock, before an abrupt change of direction into oil, gas and energy at Petroleum Economist and Platts and subsequently into investment research and writing. In addition to his articles for MoneyWeek, he also works with a number of asset managers, consultancies and financial information providers.

He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and the Investment Management Certificate, as well as degrees in finance and mathematics. He has also studied acting, film-making and photography, and strongly suspects that an awareness of what makes a compelling story is just as important for understanding markets as any amount of qualifications.