Portfolio Review Writing

Portfolio Review Writing

The canonical skill for structuring portfolio-level review documents. Any command that produces a portfolio review MUST invoke this skill for section structure, watchlist criteria, and narrative conventions.

Trigger Conditions

Activated when any command needs:

• Portfolio review document structure
• Sector or geographic performance analysis format
• Watchlist identification criteria
• Portfolio-level narrative conventions

Business Context

Portfolio reviews synthesize property-level performance into an institutional-quality document for investment committees, boards, or senior management. The review should tell a coherent performance story: what happened, why, and what to do about it. NAREIM best practices emphasize clarity, consistency, and actionable insights over data volume.

Workflow

Executive Summary

1. 5-7 bullet points covering: portfolio size (assets, SF, NAV), headline return, same-store NOI growth, occupancy, leasing activity, key transactions, and forward outlook
2. Lead with the most important development (positive or negative)
3. One paragraph maximum

Performance Summary

1. Portfolio-level metrics: total return, income return, appreciation return
2. Same-store NOI growth (current quarter, YTD, trailing 12 months)
3. Occupancy trend (physical and economic)
4. Comparison to budget and benchmark
5. Trend charts: NOI and occupancy over trailing 8 quarters

Sector Analysis

1. Group assets by property type (office, industrial, multifamily, retail, specialty)
2. For each sector: asset count, NAV weight, occupancy, NOI growth, return
3. Highlight sectors outperforming/underperforming portfolio average
4. Brief sector outlook (demand drivers, supply, rent trajectory)

Geographic Analysis

1. Group assets by region or MSA
2. For each geography: asset count, NAV weight, occupancy, NOI growth
3. Highlight geographic concentrations (>25% of NAV in one MSA)
4. Note market-level trends affecting performance

Watchlist

Apply watchlist criteria -- a property qualifies if ANY of the following are true:

1. Underperforming NOI: NOI >10% below budget for two consecutive quarters
2. High vacancy: Occupancy below 80% (or below submarket average by >500bps)
3. Concentrated rollover: >30% of rent rolling within 12 months
4. Material capital needs: Unplanned capex >5% of property value
5. Debt maturity: Loan maturing within 12 months without clear refinance path

For each watchlist asset: state the issue, root cause, action plan, and expected resolution timeline.

Outlook

1. Forward view of portfolio (next 1-2 quarters)
2. Key initiatives (leasing, capital, transactions)
3. Risks to monitor
4. Capital deployment / disposition pipeline

Output Structure

• Structured markdown document with all sections above
• Tables for quantitative summaries (sector, geography, watchlist)
• Consistent formatting across periods for comparability

QA Checks

• All portfolio assets accounted for in sector and geographic aggregations
• Sector and geographic weights sum to 100%
• Watchlist criteria applied consistently (not subjective)
• Same-store pool defined and applied consistently
• Performance figures tie to fund return calculations (if available)
• Narrative is balanced: acknowledge both strong performance and challenges

Standards References

• NAREIM best practices for institutional asset management reporting
• NCREIF/PREA Reporting Standards for metric definitions
• NCREIF property type classifications for sector groupings