Kayla Scoli ’19 pitched Welltower Inc. (WELL) to the Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) on February 18, 2019. Founded in 1970, Welltower is a real estate investment trust that invests in senior housing, assisted living and memory care communities, post-acute care facilities, and medical office buildings. They were the first and are the largest Healthcare-focused REIT. Welltower aims to deliver the health care infrastructure necessary to facilitate better treatment at lower costs and keep patients out of the hospital. They target their investments in affluent, high barrier markets given the trend that urban seniors are hoping to age in place. A major driver for Welltower’s future growth is the aging of the baby boomer generation and synergies between Welltower and major health systems. Over the last 6 months they have invested $2.25B in acquisitions. Additionally, the firm recently reported an increase of 40 bps in senior housing occupancy and expect this to continue trending upward. Management also predicts FFO/share to increase 4% in 2019 over 2018 results. The class voted to buy 130 shares of Welltower.