WELLWelltower Inc.

Welltower owns senior housing and medical property — a bet on demography rather than the economy.

Demand is set by the age structure of the population: the number of people over eighty is rising while construction of such housing nearly stopped during the years of expensive money. The gap between rising demand and frozen supply is the central story around the trust.

The model differs from ordinary leasing: a substantial share of properties operates under contracts where the trust receives not a fixed rent but a share of the care home's operating result. That gives more upside as occupancy fills, while transferring operating risks — staffing costs, occupancy, care quality — to the trust.

Like any property trust it distributes nearly all profit and is therefore rate-sensitive: expensive money raises both acquisition costs and refinancing. Medical offices and outpatient space form the second, more predictable part of the portfolio.