Over the past couple of years, we have seen a build up of increasingly negative sentiment toward the retail sector where all assets, regardless of their operational performance and other potentially compelling fundamentals, including location, are being tainted by the same brush.

However, we are firm believers that retail is far from dead. Consumers will continue to shop, but in a different manner, and brands that are able to adapt to the new “omni-channel” retail model will end up in a stronger financial position, making them viable credit tenants for retail landlords. This increasingly complex reality of the new retail environment emphasises physical retail formats that cater to the new shopper priorities of either convenience, experience, or both.

During this transition phase, retailers are extremely vulnerable to an economic recession, but we feel the sector has fallen so far out of favour — with limited differentiation by scheme quality — that it now provi