The April 2 edition of the REIT Report podcast featured Walt Rakowich on the topic of leadership during a time of crisis. Rakowich became CEO of ProLogis at the height of the economic downturn in 2008 and restored the company’s finances, enabling it to merge with AMB Property Corp. in 2011 to create Prologis, Inc. (NYSE: PLD).

In recent weeks, the mREIT sector has borne a disproportionate amount of liquidity-driven market turmoil triggered by the coronavirus crisis. With conditions showing signs of settling, for now, several Nareit mREIT members took a step back to give a first-hand account of what their companies have been dealing with.

REITs need to take a proactive stance to ensure they are ready to deal with activist investors that could emerge in the wake of the current coronavirus market uncertainty, according to a REIT corporate governance expert.

John Haggerty, co-chair, public M&A/corporate governance at Goodwin, told an April 2 webinar that activist investors see increased buying opportunities in the current environment “and are sitting on a lot of cash that has long-duration lockup, so they’ve got it there to use.”