Filinvest Axis, Northgate Cyberzone Alabang Muntinlupa City CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Filinvest REIT Corp. (FILRT), the Gotianun-led real estate investment trust company, will enter the MSCI Philippines Small Cap Index this month of November.

FILRT joins the exclusive MSCI Philippines Small Cap Index alongside 20 other constituents. The closely-watched index represents approximately 14 percent of the free float-adjusted market capitalization of the Philippine equity universe according to a recent report by global index provider MSCI.

MSCI rebalances its indices semi-annually and quarterly. The adjustment for its November semi-annual index rebalancing will take place on Nov. 30, 2021.

The news gave rise to stimulated market activity with investors buying up FILRT ahead of the scheduled rebalancing.

Recently, FILRT closed at P7.68 per share, up by 3.78 percent from the previous day and its highest closing price since listing. This places FILRT at a substantial gain of 9.7 from its listing price of P 7 per share. Value turnover was at P73.6 million. FILRT ended the trading day with a market capitalization of P36.2 billion.

FILRT debuted in the PSE in August and became the country's third listed REIT company and the first sustainability-themed REIT. Its portfolio of over 300,000 square meters of the gross leasable area consists of 17 Grade A office buildings mainly occupied by global BPOs. Sixteen of the 17 buildings are located in Filinvest City, the country's first and Asia's largest central business district to receive the LEED v4 Gold for Neighborhood Development Plan certification, while another building is part of Filinvest Cyberzone Cebu located in the gateway of Cebu IT Park in Lahug, Cebu City.

"FILRT's achievements amidst a backdrop of a pandemic is testament to the resiliency of the office leasing sector and its significant potential upside when the economy turns around," said FILRT President and CEO Maricel Brion-Lirio. "We see our inclusion in the MSCI Philippines Small Cap Index as a confirmation of the continuous growth that we envision for FILRT. This is indeed a positive development that could boost the liquidity and attractiveness of FILRT for the investors," she added.