The Property Whisperer

The interest rate guessing games continue but Sentinel will be staying the course. We took a strategic decision three years ago to stay with variable interest rates, when almost all the so-called experts were saying to lock into fixed rates. People ask what will we do when interest rates rise? They still do not understand. […]

The past quarter has seen Sentinel continue its strategic divestment of assets, capitalising on the growing weight of capital that is actively chasing properties in our chosen sectors. Neighbourhood shopping centres, in particular, are in strong demand and we have bought very well in this market in key regional locations. We identified this asset class […]

Sentinel’s approach to debt has gone against the grain of conventional industry thinking as we have not shied away from working with higher gearing levels in order to deliver higher returns directly to investors. Managing Director of Sentinel Property Group, Warren Ebert addressed the issue of high gearing at the recent Property Funds Association conference […]

Sentinel’s unique approach to capital raising is matched by our focus on pure property fundamentals, rather than financial engineering. Our returns are paid solely from rental income and are maximized through active hands-on management and value-adding by our team of property specialists. We have been unashamedly an opportunistic buyer of non-core assets, essentially buying what […]

Sentinel, in turn, is very grateful for the continued support of its valued investors. With our most recently settled acquisitions in the past quarter, we have now passed the milestone of having more than $1billion in total assets under management. Exceeding the $1billion milestone, based on the total value of our national property portfolio, is […]

Commercial property in general is beginning to gain a lot more attention from the wider investment community due to its out-performance of other investment vehicles. The unlisted commercial property investment sector in particular is now increasingly viewed as Australia’s best performing asset class, and Sentinel has the best performing funds within this sector. We continue […]

In addition to our highly targeted buying strategy, another key component of Sentinel’s success is our approach to financing, and in particular interest rates. We have received an avalanche of advice in recent years to lock in rates because of anticipated increases. As 2015 progressed, this advice from well-meaning investors, accountants and advisors, became more […]

Similar to our entry into tourism markets, we also see a lot of potential upside in gaining exposure to Australia’s agribusiness sector. We have settled our first agribusiness acquisition and are actively looking at further opportunities to grow our presence in this sector. The first asset for our new open-ended Sentinel Income Trust is the […]

A recent focus of our expansion has been on acquiring prominent assets in locations such as the Gold Coast and North Queensland that are well positioned to benefit from a rebounding tourism sector. This started with our purchases last year of the Port of Airlie Maritime Terminal the gateway to The Whitsundays region and then […]

While 2015 has been a volatile year on global investment markets, Sentinel’s specialist focus on Australia’s unlisted commercial property sector means we have not only withstood the macro international and national economic shocks but are well positioned to maintain our market out performance. In fact, unlisted commercial property is increasingly being nominated as the standout […]