Benchmarks have long been a staple of institutional real estate investing. They offer structure, comparability and a sense of discipline. In quarterly reviews and boardrooms alike, they provide a convenient shorthand for answering the enduring question: How are we doing?

Does the wisdom of crowds trump contrarian voices over the long term? It’s a perennial question for investors of every stripe, but for those in real estate, it is becoming an ever more important one. As the asset class becomes more sophisticated, operational, geographically diverse and crowded, maverick views are being sought by capital allocators in order to find new pockets of value. But what do the managers think?

Core is no more. Or at least, it is not what it was a decade back. That change is both a blessing and a curse. There is greater sophistication among investors, and an expanding pool of subsectors that could classify in the asset class. But today’s core also requires more intensive analysis of segments that are often operationally complex.