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Alpha and Beta

A popular Wendy's commercial in the 80s made famous the question: "Where's the beef?" Good one. And here's an even better one: "Where's the alpha?" You might want to whip this one out the next time you meet with your portfolio manager.

Alpha is the over-and-above-the-expected return. It is the "value added." Therefore, it makes sense that a positive alpha means an investment has outperformed its market-predicted return, while a negative alpha would mean just the opposite. The expected return is calculated by a formula that takes into account the investment's level of unavoidable risk (aka beta).

Ever stepped into an elevator and after the doors close you become aware of an almost-suffocating scent coming from the woman next to you who must have bathed in perfume? Well, as you know, once the doors close you can't escape the smell until the ride is over. This is similar to beta, which is risk that can't be reduced or diversified away. A measure of "systematic" or market related risk, beta is used as a measure relative to a certain index -- such as the S&P 500.

So, for example, let¿s say your portfolio is managed to compete against the S&P 500. If you generate a better return than the index while not taking on added risk (standard deviation of returns) then you get alpha. Low beta means the market-related risk is low and vice versa for high beta.

Another example, let's say a mutual fund or stock has a beta of 1.5 relative to the S& P500 ¿ that means it is 1.5 times as risky. So, over time, if the S&P 500 goes up 1%, your portfolio should be up 1.5% plus (one can hope) some percentage of alpha. If the S&P 500 is down 1%, your portfolio should be down 1.5%.

Alpha and beta are based off of linear regression of a set of data. Warning: this may cause a high school fifth-period flashback, but it will be over before you know it:
The equation for a line is Y = a + bX.

a = alpha (the Y intercept - the added value)
b = Beta (the coefficient you multiply X by)
X = S&P 500 (in this case)
Y = your portfolio

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Pacific Office Properties Trust Acquires Four Office Buildings

 
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LOS ANGELES, May 02, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) ----Pacific Office Properties Trust, Inc. (AMEX: PCE), the West Coast office building REIT, announced today that it has completed the acquisition of interests in four office buildings located in San Diego and Phoenix. These acquisitions increase Pacific Office's total portfolio to 2.7 million leasable square feet.

The four buildings are among the 18 office buildings that Pacific Office has an option to acquire under the terms and conditions of its recently completed formation transactions. The remaining 14 properties comprise an additional 1.6 million leasable square feet. Pacific Office has already exercised its option to acquire three of the 14 buildings and these acquisitions are expected to close next month. Each of the transactions is subject to customary closing conditions. The remaining 11 properties are subject to Pacific Office's discretion to exercise its option.

The San Diego and Phoenix office buildings were acquired through Pacific Office's joint-venture initiative, in which it acquires, owns and operates "value-added" commercial real estate in partnership with institutional private equity capital on property-specific bases. Through its co-investment strategy, Pacific Office expects to generate venture-related, preferential and performance returns.

Three of the acquired buildings are Class A/B+ office buildings containing a total of 54,000 leasable square feet and are located in the Carlsbad and Torrey Hills submarkets of San Diego (the San Diego Portfolio). Pacific Office will own the San Diego Portfolio in partnership with an institutional co-investor and have a 32 percent interest in the properties.

"The acquisition of the San Diego Portfolio expands Pacific Office's presence in the San Diego market where our management team is already well-recognized and has a significant track record of successful operations," stated Dallas Lucas, Chief Executive Officer.

The remaining office property, Black Canyon Corporate Center, contains 220,200 leaseable square feet and is located in the Deer Valley submarket of Phoenix. Black Canyon Corporate Center was built as a single-tenant building in 1980 and was substantially renovated for multi-tenant use in 2006. Pacific Office will own Black Canyon in partnership with an institutional co-investor and have a 17.5 percent interest.

About Pacific Office Properties Trust, Inc.

Pacific Office Properties Trust, Inc. (www.pacificofficeproperties.com) is a real estate investment trust that acquires, owns, and operates office properties in the western U.S., focusing initially on the four high-growth markets of Honolulu, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. Pacific Office is externally managed by Pacific Office Management, Inc., an affiliate of The Shidler Group.

Pacific Office acquires, in partnership with institutional co-investors, value-added office buildings whose potential can be maximized through improvements, repositioning, and superior leasing and management. Pacific Office was established to continue The Shidler Group's highly successful institutional joint-venture operations that focus on acquiring opportunistic and value-added commercial real estate in partnership with institutional co-investors.

About The Shidler Group

The Shidler Group (www.shidler.com) is a private long-term investor in commercial real estate. Over the past 30 years, through its private and public affiliates, it has acquired, owned and managed more than 2,000 properties containing over 150 million square feet of leasable area. In addition to the formation of Pacific Office Properties, The Shidler Group has founded three other publicly traded real estate investment trusts - Corporate Office Properties Trust (NYSE: OFC), First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE: FR), and TriNet Corporate Realty Trust (formerly, NYSE: TRI, now part of iStar Financial (NYSE: SFI)). Certain Information About Forward Looking Statements

Statements contained in this release except for historical information are forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, words such as "should," "may," "will," "expect," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "could," "estimate," or "continue," or the negative or other variations thereof or comparable terminology, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties inherent in such statements may cause actual future events or results to differ materially and adversely from those described in the forward-looking statements. Specifically, there can be no assurance that the subject transactions will be consummated. Other important factors that may cause a difference between forward-looking statements and actual results for Pacific Office are discussed in the company's filings from time to time with the SEC, including but not limited to the Annual Report on Form 10-KSB for the year ended December 31, 2007, and the Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A, dated December 17, 2007, of Arizona Land Income Corporation, the predecessor of Pacific Office. Pacific Office and The Shidler Group disclaim any obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release, which speak only as of the date hereof.

SOURCE: Pacific Office Properties Trust, Inc.

Pacific
   Office Properties Trust, Inc. Dallas E. Lucas, President and Chief Executive Officer 310-395-2083 
Copyright Business
   Wire 2008
 

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