Baron Real Estate Income Fund (BRIIX)

Prologis, Inc. (PLD) is a real estate investment trust that owns a $40 billion global industrial portfolio. It was formed through the 2011 merger of AMB and legacy ProLogis.
In our view, industrial real estate has attractive fundamentals, with organic growth that is among the highest across all real estate asset types. Strengthening demand, driven by the growth of e-commerce (2/3 of retail growth), and the need for infill locations to service "last mile" delivery, continues to absorb elevated supply deliveries. Given Prologis's assets, markets, management, and balance sheet, we believe the company is well-positioned to continue benefiting from this favorable fundamental backdrop.

American Tower Corp. (AMT) is the largest independent wireless tower operator worldwide, with more than 170,000 towers in 17 countries on five continents.
Increasing demand for wireless voice and data coverage is driving leasing activity for wireless carriers. Because zoning for new towers is difficult to obtain, leasing on an existing tower (tenant colocation) is typically the best option. American Tower has been expanding internationally, bringing the U.S. tower model to new markets. We expect new tenants and higher colocation activity to drive continued strong organic cash flow growth. In addition, we believe American Tower will continue to acquire tower portfolios opportunistically.

GDS Holdings Limited (GDS) is a China-based operator of data centers with over 50 data centers, five markets, and approximately 200,000 square meters in service. More than 50% of its revenue comes from  top Chinese internet companies
We believe that as the preferred provider to Alibaba and Tencent, GDS is poised to benefit from the exploding growth in cloud computing in China. Cloud adoption is still in the early stages in China, and GDS is capturing more than its fair share of incremental deployments due to its proven track record and carrier-neutral value proposition.

Equinix, Inc. (EQIX) is a network neutral operator of 200 data centers across 52 metros and 24 countries in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. It provides highly reliable facilities and offers low latency interconnection to and among business partners, networks, and cloud service providers.
We believe Equinix continues to benefit from several key long-term secular trends, including growth in internet traffic, IT outsourcing, cloud computing, and mobility. As data and customer needs become more global, Equinix should also benefit from its leading global data center platform with 200 centers in over 50 cities. We believe Equinix can continue to grow through new data center development, rent increases, and the addition of value-added services supplemented by accretive acquisitions that increase market penetration and reach.

Invitation Homes, Inc. (INVH) is the largest single-family home rental and management company in the U.S. with over 80,000 homes across 13 markets and 9 states.
Invitation Homes owns single-family rental homes in high density and premier markets in the U.S. The company maintains internal repair and maintenance teams, allowing ample opportunity to reduce turn/leasing times and associated costs while driving rent growth against a backdrop of housing undersupply in the U.S. As the largest operator in the sector, Invitation Homes continues to look for opportunities to scale its platform in existing markets by acquiring homes and potentially partnering with builders to off-take newly built homes.

Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. (REXR) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns a $1 billion (and growing) industrial portfolio concentrated in Southern California. The company was founded in 2001, and its IPO was in July 2013.
Rexford is a high growth industrial REIT run by an entrepreneurial management team. The $4.5 billion portfolio is concentrated in Southern California infill markets, which have strong demand/supply fundamentals and high barriers to entry. We think the company has the ability to grow cash flow at a double digit annual rate through organic means and via acquisitions in a highly fragmented market. We believe Rexford has superior growth prospects relative to its peers, and trades at a reasonable valuation.

Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (ARE) is the largest pure-play landlord and developer for the life sciences industry. The company designs and improves space for lease to pharmaceutical, biotech, and life sciences companies, scientific research institutions, universities, and government institutions.
In our opinion, Alexandria Real Estate is positioned to benefit from the aging U.S. population, ongoing health care needs, new drugs, and more capital infusions into biotech and health care. Core portfolio growth is driven by a mark-to-market growth opportunity, annual rent bumps, and occupancy gains. We think Alexandria has the potential to double in size by building out its development, redevelopment, and land holding pipeline.

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (BIP) is one of the largest owners and operators of diversified global infrastructure businesses, including utilities, transport, energy, and data infrastucture.
Brookfield Infrastructure owns high-quality assets with contracted cash and growing cash flows. Brookfield has a stable and growing dividend yield and ample opportunity to grow cash flow through embedded contracted increases supplemented by a funnel of acquisitions given the significant capital required to maintain and expand critical infrastructure and stressed government budgets globally. We believe the company can sustainably earn 12% to 15% returns on equity and grow cash flow by 5-9% annually. Lastly, we have great confidence in Brookfield's proven management team.

QTS Realty Trust (QTS) is an operator of 25 data center assets in 13 markets, representing 2.7 million square feet of available space and 670 megawatts of power. The company has products for large wholesale and smaller retail colocation, and is the only player that sells space directly through Amazon.
We believe that QTS, with the simplification of its product offerings, will be an attractive option for companies seeking to outsource their data center needs. QTS has proven effective in acquiring assets with a low cost basis and developing them, and we believe its recent select greenfield developments are especially prudent. We believe the company can double its capacity in its existing facilities and double it again by developing the land surrounding the facilities over time. QTS is also benefiting from industrywide secular tailwinds of cloud adoption and IT outsourcing.

MGM Growth Properties (MGP) is a newly formed triple net REIT that currently holds 11 MGM assets in the U.S., including seven in Las Vegas. The triple net REIT vehicle allows MGM to monetize its real estate assets and take advantage of the valuation disparity of the assets held in the operating company.
We believe MGM Growth Properties is an attractive total return vehicle with imbedded growth through two MGM developments, both on which it holds the right of first offer, in addition to the highly fragmented regional gaming space. In our view, the company could potentially unlock the trapped real estate value within gaming assets and take advantage of the valuation disparity between real estate operating companies and real estate assets, the latter of which we estimate to be 2-4 times that of the former.