The result has been reduced lack of investor interest in REITs in favor of technology and other high-growth industries. The main challenge is to get the investor community to recognize that REITs provide strong dividends and stable growth. Further, REITs consistently have growth rates in the high single to low double-digits. Second, and specific to AMB, we believe the most important metric for measuring the progress of any real estate company is internal growth. This measure excludes the impact of external activities such as new acquisitions or mergers.
Internal growth embodies the quality of the future income stream from our existing assets.
It is the single best way to compare the progress of our portfolio against our peers. AMB's internal growth leads the industrial sector, and has since we became a public company in 1997. Within the REIT sector, when an investor looks to identify top companies, he should look at the blue-chip companies, those with the best strategies, the best management teams, the best balance sheets and the best liquidity. AMB is considered to be such a blue chip company by many of the leading analysts. We view such behavior as an indication that the companies in question are being managed for the benefit of their management teams, and not for their shareholders.