How to manage, interpret and standardize information

Five years ago, numbers were “nice to have,” recalls Indraneel Karlekar, the global head of research and strategy at Principal Real Estate. Now they are a “must have,” embedded in every one of the investment processes at Principal. An in-house data analytics team and science researchers scour through reams of big data.

It’s been a similar metamorphosis at Pro-invest Group. In 2017, a corporate team of about a dozen people used to oversee a relatively simple portfolio of eight hotels in two funds using a standard asset management approach. The company in 2022 has more than 50 sector-specific specialists spread among London, Vienna, Sydney and Dubai, managing close to 15 properties in three funds, not to mention a further nine assets across managed accounts, co-investments and a joint venture.

That wouldn’t be possible without the many streams of data that inform every decision. Rapid growth has come with a rapid process of sophistication, all grounded in imp