Educational REITs: Is It Worth Investing in This Segment?
- Mint Capital
- 17 de jun.
- 2 min de leitura
An investor in real estate is protected and stable in the education sector if they choose a fund with solid contracts and good acquisitions. However, there are risks to consider. Banco Inter points out that eviction of defaulting tenants may be more difficult due to the sector's nature, while Warren warns that the prevalence of non-standard lease agreements complicates analysis and ties performance to the macroeconomic and educational health of tenant institutions.
Fund managers of education-focused REITs push back on these concerns. Cassio Beldi from Mint Capital describes it as a kind of “prejudice”—the notion that evictions are more difficult in this sector. Felipe Ribeiro from Rio Bravo notes that atypical leases often include stronger safeguards, such as stricter penalties and revenue protections.
Should You Invest in Education-Focused REITs?
According to Bruno Viveiros (Warren) and Daniel Viana (Inter Asset), it's hard to treat all educational REITs as one uniform category. Although they all invest in school or higher education real estate, their strategies differ significantly.
Two points are clear among analysts:
Liquidity is low. With the exception of MINT11 (which didn’t pay distributions in March and April), these funds typically distribute dividends regularly but have limited liquidity—making them less suitable for short-term or cash-needy investors.
Asset evaluation is complex. While the educational thesis is generally positive, successful investment requires deep understanding of leases, tenant history, contractual terms, and the asset’s strategic importance.
Cassio Beldi (Mint Capital) argues that in the short term, educational REITs may move in line with other brick-and-mortar REITs, since pricing reflects broader real estate supply-demand dynamics. However, educational sector dynamics matter more over the long term.
“The real estate investor is protected and stable in education if the fund has strong contracts and quality acquisitions. It's the chance to be in a thriving sector, but in a protected way,” says Beldi.
Analysts agree: investors must look beyond current price discounts and scrutinize each fund’s leases—examining lease duration, exit clauses, typical versus atypical leases, penalty structures, tenant track record, and the property's strategic role.
Beldi also endorses a “pure-play fund” approach—investing only in education—citing the need for specific expertise in understanding sector transformations before investing in educational properties. In this strategy, investors should assess which areas of in-person education (primary or higher) remain viable long-term, to evaluate the sustainability of assets with leases often spanning 10–20 years:
“We’re buying properties with 10, 15, or 20-year leases. We cannot predict the future, but we can study history,” he concludes.
Comentários