The piecemeal response to the pandemic and patchy nature of recovery in different countries has made a powerful case for property investors to look internationally and devote capital to overseas property. So, how much of a portfolio should an investor allocate to real estate beyond their home base? And how best to go about it?

To Carly Tripp, global CIO at Nuveen Real Estate, the answer is, “That depends.” While that may sound like a cop-out, she is not alone in asserting that each investor has its own set of considerations.

Is the investor looking to real estate for yield or for capital appreciation? What is its risk tolerance? That question goes hand in hand with what risk premium should be required from an international allocation, which, to justify the extra management and administration issues, should have greater returns than they can generate at home. There is also currency risk to consider — a greater issue of late, when interest rates have diverged, risi