-
Colliers International Group Inc. Subordinate Voting Shares (CIGI $222.34)
-
FirstService Corporation (FSV $274.74)
Q: Looking to open a position in one of the 2 listed companies or others if you have any to recommend. Long term investor with 0 exposure to the real estate sector in the portfolio yet.
Colliers growth projections and better valuation along with positive analysts ratings make it more attractive on the surface. However, I know that you have First Service in the growth portfolio, is there something that I'm missing as to why I should choose FSV before CIGI? Could you please give a breakdown between the two and the reasoning behind choosing one over the other?
FSV is a bit larger and a bit more expensive on valuation. We think both are fine. We like FSV a bit better, largely as it is purely a 'service' company and has a diverse property management business. While it is technically 'real estate' focused, it generates monthly income by servicing properties and does not really have real estate 'exposure' in any traditional sense. CIGI, meanwhile, has exposure to commercial real estate through brokerage and valuation services. It has other operations, but we see it as more directly connected to the real estate market overall. This has not been 'bad' and recent numbers for both have been very solid. We just have a bit more faith in FSV's ongoing cash flow, especially if real estate were to take a dive.