Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELS) is the manufactured housing real estate investment trust (REIT) founded by Sam Zell. Since IPO on February 25, 1993, ELS returned 16.7% per year compared to the S&P 500’s 10.5%. Even more impressively, ELS generated this performance with a beta of 0.5. Manufactured housing is an overlooked segment of the market that investors should consider.
Every S&P 500 Index owner holds real estate investment trusts (REITs). To date, these investments have not been accretive to index performance. However, alternative REIT's, from cell towers to data centers, have handily out-performed the average REIT and the S&P 500. So has another under the radar alternative REIT category, discussed here.
Viasat offers the opportunity to invest in a business trading at a temporary discount due to a once a century event that was no fault of their own. Right before they complete their most transformative project to date.