Managing Director, Golden Section Capital

Garreth Elston

Managing Director

Golden Section Equity Research

Golden Section Capital

Golden Section Capital is a private international investment, specialist independent equity research, and corporate finance consulting services provider focussing on real estate and infrastructure. 

Paid for corporate research on Real Estate and Infrastructure companies. Plus independent pieces on various real estate companies and themes.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>March was an extremely busy month for the SA listed property sector with earnings, pre-close, and interim releases coming thick and fast.</li>
<li>The SA All Property Index was down -4.12% for the quarter, the FTSE EPRA Nareit Global Index in ZAR was down -1.21%, and in USD down by -1.67%.</li>
<li>The best positions remain in property companies as insulated from international macro issues as possible, those with steady cash flows, tenants providing necessary products and/or services, plus low debt levels.</li>
</ul>


March was an extremely busy month for the SA listed property sector with earnings, pre-close, and interim releases coming thick and fast.
The SA All Property Index was down -4.12% for the quarter, the FTSE EPRA Nareit Global Index in ZAR was down -1.21%, and in USD down by -1.67%.
The best positions remain in property companies as insulated from international macro issues as possible, those with steady cash flows, tenants providing necessary products and/or services, plus low debt levels.


South African Listed Property Review - March 2025

Equity Bottom-Up

Emira Property Fund is a property fund created under the Emira Property Scheme, a collective investment scheme in property created in terms of the Collective Investment Schemes Control Act to house the investment properties of Emira Property Fund.

<ul>
<li>Emira is a mid-sized South African listed diversified REIT. It has built a portfolio across retail, office, industrial, and residential assets. EMI is also invested in the USA and Poland.</li>
<li>The company is undervalued at present, trading at 33.85% below Golden Section Capital’s justified value of R16.01 (and 48.35% below the current pro forma NAV of R20.05).</li>
<li>Outlook is one of steady, incremental growth, supported by a de-risked and diversified asset base. Emira’s diversification into the USA and Poland provides growth, and a buffer against local volatility.</li>
</ul>


Emira is a mid-sized South African listed diversified REIT. It has built a portfolio across retail, office, industrial, and residential assets. EMI is also invested in the USA and Poland.
The company is undervalued at present, trading at 33.85% below Golden Section Capital’s justified value of R16.01 (and 48.35% below the current pro forma NAV of R20.05).
Outlook is one of steady, incremental growth, supported by a de-risked and diversified asset base. Emira’s diversification into the USA and Poland provides growth, and a buffer against local volatility.


Emira Property Fund - South Africa's Middleweight REIT Contender

<ul>
<li>February proved to be largely directionless for SA listed property, with the J803 All Property Index up a paltry 0.27%.</li>
<li>Macro instability has certainly not aided, and the Government of National Unity not being able to deliver a budget on schedule certainly was not a plus.</li>
<li>Latest Rode research continues to point to the Office sector as having bottomed, and Industrial continues to perform well. While the Clur Index shows that Retail continues to perform soundly.</li>
</ul>


February proved to be largely directionless for SA listed property, with the J803 All Property Index up a paltry 0.27%.
Macro instability has certainly not aided, and the Government of National Unity not being able to deliver a budget on schedule certainly was not a plus.
Latest Rode research continues to point to the Office sector as having bottomed, and Industrial continues to perform well. While the Clur Index shows that Retail continues to perform soundly.


South African Listed Property Review February 2025

<ul>
<li>The SA listed property index fell -2.89% in January, reversing December’s gain.  </li>
<li>There were only eleven listed property companies up out of forty-five.  The majority of large SA REITs disappointed.</li>
<li>Despite being thousands of miles from the world’s touchpoints South Africa’s markets cannot escape global uncertainty and its negative impact.</li>
</ul>


The SA listed property index fell -2.89% in January, reversing December’s gain.  
There were only eleven listed property companies up out of forty-five.  The majority of large SA REITs disappointed.
Despite being thousands of miles from the world’s touchpoints South Africa’s markets cannot escape global uncertainty and its negative impact.


SA Listed Property Review – January 2025

<ul>
<li>The South African listed property sector had a positive month in December, capping a robust year of excellent returns.</li>
<li>For 2024 the SA All Property Index rose 28.85%, outperforming the JSE’s all-share index’s +9.37% and the top 40 +6.93%.</li>
<li>South African listed property thoroughly outperformed global listed property, with the EPRA Nareit Global Index’s TR lagging the J803 TR Index by 22.41% in ZAR terms for the year.</li>
</ul>


The South African listed property sector had a positive month in December, capping a robust year of excellent returns.
For 2024 the SA All Property Index rose 28.85%, outperforming the JSE’s all-share index’s +9.37% and the top 40 +6.93%.
South African listed property thoroughly outperformed global listed property, with the EPRA Nareit Global Index’s TR lagging the J803 TR Index by 22.41% in ZAR terms for the year.


SA Listed Property Review – December 2024

Garreth is a property investment professional, with 19 years of South African and international investment experience. He has served as the portfolio manager of South African and Global unit trust portfolios, proprietary funds, Hedge Funds, and private equity property portfolios. He most recently served as the CEO of a large residential estate and associated property businesses.

Winner of the Raging Bull Award in 2020 and 2021 for Best Global Real Estate Fund Risk-Adjusted Performance over Five Years as well as 2021 Best Offshore Global Real Estate General Fund over Three Years. Also nominated as Fund Manager of the Year for 2021 in the Global Properties Securities category by Money Management Australia. Nominated as HedgeNews Africa Hedge Fund of the Year in Specialist Strategies in 2021. Funds previously managed were rated 5-Stars by Morningstar on a global basis, and Garreth achieved a Citywire AA Manager rating.

He previously served as the Deputy Chair of the Investment Analysts Society of Southern Africa (IASSA); Chair of the Corporate Finance and Corporate Presentations committees of the CFA Society Toronto; and was the Southern African representative on the International Council of Investment Associations. 

Garreth holds an MBA from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, an MA in International Relations, and a BCom in Banking Management. He also studied Venture Capital and Private Equity as an elective at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA Anderson School). In addition to completing the Canadian Securities Course, the Partners Directors and Senior Officers Course, he is a Certified Associate of the Institute of Bankers in South Africa, a Fellow of the Institute of Financial Markets, and is a Chartered Member (MRICS) of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. He has also completed the FSCA RE1, RE3, and RE5 regulatory examinations in categories I II IIA III and IV.