TORONTO, ON / May 13, 2025 / The Forum Real Estate Income and Impact Fund (“REIIF” or the “Fund”) released its results for the quarter ended March 31, 2025.
Series F investors in REIIF achieved a time-weighted net return of 2.07%(1) for the first quarter of 2025, including a monthly distribution of 4.96 cents per unit, or 4% annualized. Over a trailing 12-month period, REIIF has delivered a time-weighted return of 12.09%(1), underscoring the Fund’s steady performance.
“Purpose-built student accommodation (“PBSA”) remains the core focus of the Fund, currently representing approximately 90% of the portfolio. Despite ongoing tariff uncertainties and mounting pressure on housing affordability, REIIF’s portfolio of recession-resilient, institutional-quality rental housing continues to deliver stability and growth,” said Aly Damji, Managing Partner at Forum Asset Management, Fund Head and a Trustee of REIIF. “Historically, higher education enrolment has increased during periods of economic uncertainty-rising by 18% during the dotcom crash, 11% during the global financial crisis, and 5% during the COVID-19 pandemic. Continued year-over-year growth in applicants and enrolment reinforces Forum’s investment thesis: demand for high-quality PBSA in leading university markets remains robust, even in volatile macroeconomic environments”.
REIIF’s PBSA portfolio continues to demonstrate leasing momentum for the upcoming 2025–2026 academic year. While broader market conditions indicate some softening, demand for our properties remains resilient, with new leasing leads generated daily across the portfolio. Forum’s proactive yield management within the Alignvest portfolio is on track, with new leases achieving planned premiums over in-place rents. In-place rents on renewals for the upcoming lease term have increased as expected, supporting management’s outlook for continued rent growth and sustained demand for high-quality student housing. In management’s opinion, REIIF remains well-positioned to benefit from the remainder of the leasing season.
Portfolio Update
As of Q1 2025, REIIF’s Gross Asset Value (“GAV”) was $2.4 billion across 31(2) institutional-quality assets in nine cities and six provinces, comprising over 10,500 beds and 3.1 million square feet of residential GLA.
Stabilized portfolio occupancy(3) improved to 98.2%, up from 97.6% in Q4 2024. Comparative property net operating income rose 2.2% quarter-over-quarter, and 3.2% year-over-year. Total portfolio net operating income increased by $17.5 million year-over-year, primarily due to the full-quarter impact of Alignvest assets.
REIIF’s disciplined valuation process, which includes external appraisals on approximately 25% of the portfolio quarterly, supported fair value gains. This was driven by demonstrated rental growth and cap rate compression, particularly across flagship properties such as ALMA @ Guelph, The Annex, and See-More in Halifax.
Preparations are underway to implement capital improvement programs across the portfolio, with a focus on energy efficiency and resident experience enhancements. These upgrades are expected to unlock additional long-term value for unitholders.
Cost synergies from scale continue to drive value, with Management recently completing a comprehensive portfolio-wide insurance review. Quoted premiums were substantially lower than in previous years, resulting in meaningful operational savings. These savings are expected to enhance NOI and may support stronger property valuations.
Balance Sheet Update
The Fund maintains a conservative capital structure with net debt-to-assets of 54.8%, supported by over $85 million in available liquidity. At the end of Q1-2025, the Fund’s debt structure comprises 86% fixed-rate mortgages with an overall coupon of 3.99% and a weighted average term to maturity of 4.7 years.
Management has initiated steps to transition the Alignvest portfolio from short-term bridge debt to long-term CMHC-insured mortgages, with the first tranche expected to fund in the third quarter of 2025(4).
Distributions
REIIF paid monthly distributions to unitholders of record as at March 31, 2025 as follows:
About REIIF
Forum Real Estate Income and Impact Fund (REIIF) consolidates institutional-quality purpose-built student housing, as well as multi-family and furnished rentals, in supply-constrained markets. REIIF is committed to delivering impact and Extraordinary OutcomesTM to investors, enhancing yields and total returns, maintaining diversity and resiliency of income, while benefiting students—and cities—across Canada. Please visit our website at www.forumreiif.ca
About Forum
Forum is an investor, developer and asset manager operating across North America for over 28 years,
focusing on real estate, private equity and infrastructure, with a strategic concentration in housing. We are
committed to sustainability, responsible investing and creating value that benefits our stakeholders and the communities in which we invest, what we call our Extraordinary Outcomes.™ Please visit our website at www.forumam.com
Contacts
Name: Lara Iannucci, Chief Financial Officer, Real Estate
Phone Number: 416-947-0389
Email: larai@forumam.com
Name: Domenic Gallippi, Managing Director, Alternative Assets
Phone Number: 416-947-0389
Email: domenicg@forumam.com
(1) Total net returns (net of all REIIF expenses) for the Lead Series F units and is no guarantee of future results. The distribution rate and total return received by a unitholder will differ based on the series of trust units in which a unitholder invests. The expectations of the yield and returns is based on various assumptions and subject to certain risks, including those risk factors identified in REIIF’s confidential offering memorandum.
(2) Two properties, 308 King and ALMA @ Shaughnessy Village, previously owned by Alignvest Student Housing REIT are now managed by Forum Asset Management and are expected to be integrated into REIIF’s portfolio in due course, with REIIF entitled to interim profits or losses.
(3) Stabilized occupancy rate represents the occupancy level of a portfolio, excluding properties currently undergoing renovations or those that have not yet reached full operational potential, which includes seven properties.
(4) While approval is anticipated, there is no guarantee that the application will be approved within the anticipated timeframe or at all, nor that the strategy will yield all expected benefits. Please review REIIF’s OM for a discussion on risks, uncertainties and assumptions.
Cautionary Statement
This news release is for informational purposes only and is not intended as investment, financial or other advice or a recommendation to invest in the Fund. It is also not an offer, solicitation, or basis for any investment decision regarding REIIF securities, which are available only to “accredited investors” within certain jurisdictions of Canada and not for sale to the general public.
The information in this news release regarding the Fund’s portfolio, including the number of properties, units, residents served, and Gross Asset Value (GAV) as well as Fund performance and returns are based on current estimates developed from Forum’s unaudited financial information, and are subject to change. Series F returns as expressed herein, are net of REIIF expenses like administrative costs, management fees, and unit class specific fees. The targeted distribution rate and total return received by a unitholder will differ based on the series of REIIF units in which a unitholder invests and the distribution reinvestment plan strategy that such unitholder elects to pursue. Past performance is historical and not a guarantee of future results. Investors should not place undue reliance on these figures and are encouraged to perform their own due diligence or consult with a professional advisor before making any investment decisions. A Prospective investors and other readers are strongly encouraged to carefully review the risk factors, assumptions, and uncertainties set out in REIIF’s offering memorandum dated December 20, 2024, as same may be amended or supplemented from time to time (the “OM”) before making any investment decisions. The OM contains important information about REIIF’s investment strategy, potential risks, and other factors that should be considered.
Certain forward-looking statements in this press release are based in part on third-party data and historical trends, including Statistics Canada data showing higher education enrolment rose 18% during the dotcom crash, 11% during the global financial crisis, and 5% during COVID-19. The Company believes this information to be reliable but has not independently verified it. Past performance may not be indicative of future results.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release includes forward-looking statements under Canadian securities laws, identifiable by terms like “expect,” “intends,” and “anticipates,” or variations of these, and those which imply forward looking statements such as those statements relating to the Fund, strategy, objectives and plans, outlining REIIF’s investment objectives, strategies, opportunity pursuits, expected acquisitions pursuant to REIIF’s ROFO agreement with Forum, expected annual net operating income growth, GAV growth, expectations of the yield and returns on units within the Fund including the stability of such returns, financing strategies including financing applications with CMHC, distribution expectations, REIIF’s differentiating factors, rental housing demand and supply expectations, rental housing shortfall estimates, recessionary resiliency, and general market outlook. However, these statements are based on current management beliefs and available information, and they are not guarantees of future performance. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes to vary significantly, including economic conditions, real estate market volatility, funding access challenges, timing issues, and currency or interest rate changes. Additionally, the Alignvest transaction has been entered into with the expectation that its successful completion will result in long-term strategic benefits, economies of scale and synergies. It is possible that this may not occur as planned, or that the financial and other benefits may be less than anticipated. Unforeseen and other factors may lead to material differences in actual outcomes.
For more information on these factors, risks and uncertainties as well as the assumptions underlying management’s forecasts, please refer to REIIF’s OM which is available here. These forward-looking statements reflect our position as of this release, with no obligation for updates unless required by law.
