By David E. Simon

I think everyone would agree that our 2004 annual convention in Los Angeles was a resounding success. NAREIT's convention is the largest annual gathering of executives and professionals in the publicly traded real estate industry and this year there were roughly 1,200 in attendance.

One of this year's many highlights occurred on the day before the convention officially convened. NAREIT conducted a Global REIT Leadership Summit. This summit was the first of its kind, bringing together leaders from the worldwide real estate community for a candid and wide-ranging discussion of issues at the forefront of the global real estate market.

As I said to many of you at the convention, one of my efforts as NAREIT chair in the coming year will be on the globalization of our industry and the role that NAREIT can play as we expand our reach. I believe that the hosting of the Global REIT Leadership Summit was an important first step. Summit attendees learned about worldwide real estate activities from the perspective of REIT executives and investors on topics ranging from the convergence of the international marketplace to sources of global capital.

Although many U.S. REITs have been public companies for little more than a decade, we have the benefit of a structure that has been perfected over time. We have witnessed the evolution of REITs from a small part of the overall U.S. commercial property market to the significant economic force that they are today.

I believe that NAREIT can play a critical role in the globalization of the real estate industry. One significant area is in the development and implementation of international financial standards. NAREIT will continue to develop its relationship with the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) with a goal of increasing the U.S. industry's role in the IASB standard-setting process.

NAREIT also stands ready to assist other countries in adopting REIT-like legislation as we did in July of 2004 with a submission to authorities in the U.K. And lastly, over the course of the next year I hope to build upon NAREIT's constructive partnership with the European Public Real Estate Association as the industry becomes increasingly interconnected globally.

Here at home in 2005, NAREIT will continue to lead the multi-industry Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism as it works with members of Congress to extend the federal backstop for terror insurance coverage through 2007. We will also remain abreast of pending legislation related to the real estate industry and we will be in close communication with both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Accounting Standards Board.

NAREIT will also continue to reach out to individual and institutional investors with the message that REIT stocks belong in every diversified portfolio. I intend to play a role in that outreach, in particular in our ongoing initiative to boost the presence of REITs in the nation's 401(k) plans. Approximately 12 percent of plans currently contain a REIT option, but thanks to the recent actions of plan sponsors such as IBM, we continue to make inroads.

These are exciting times for the REIT industry, and I look forward with great anticipation to the opportunities that await us in 2005 and beyond.

David Simon
NAREIT CHAIR
CEO, SIMON PROPERTY GROUP