Jeff Edison, chairman and CEO of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (Nasdaq: PECO), participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITworld: 2022 Annual Conference held in San Francisco on Nov. 15-17.
Edison said the U.S. is in a time of “a fair amount of uncertainty” despite a strong operating environment.
“The primary headwind is inflation and what it’s doing to interest rates,” he said. “The bigger tailwinds are what is driving these strong operating results, [and] we’re seeing high increased levels in terms of interest from the retailers in our suburban locations.”
Edison said he anticipates that the strong tailwinds will continue and the REIT will see strong internal growth from rents in 2023.
Edison also discussed Phillips Edison’s 30th anniversary, which occurred during the pandemic.
“When you have a strategy that is different than everyone else’s strategy…if you can keep focused on that and you can continue to improve in every part of [your] business…you can do well over a long period of time,” he said.