Some U.S. REITs will benefit from data centre demand: portfolio manager

Demand for data centres is trending higher amid the expansion of AI and cloud services, according to one portfolio manager, who says some U.S.-based real estate investment trusts (REITs) will benefit.

Sam Sahn, a managing partner and portfolio manager at Hazelview Investments, said in an interview with BNNBloomberg.ca last week that several factors are driving the demand for data centres. He points to enthusiasm for AI and the technology sector, as well as the amount of power required to run large language models.

“I think the important variable to think about (for) AI and data centers is the amount of power that's required to run large language models. These large language models require a significant amount of power in order to optimize, in order to run, in order to make efficient, and power is a finite resource,” Sahn said. 

According to a November 2023 report from Hazelview Investments, the data centre market was valued at US$263 billion in 2022 and could grow to $602 billion by the end of 2030.