Institutional real estate investing has always been a craft of the intrepid, defined by the long-term exposure of large amounts of capital to risks in a world of economic, financial and political uncertainties.

That reality has been pounded into the dirt in 2020 for investors and financiers of Asia Pacific property, who are not only dusting themselves off from the economy-shredding COVID-19 pandemic, but also rising geopolitical tensions from New Delhi to Beijing to Taipei, from Tokyo to Seoul, and from all directions to Washington, DC.

“We must foremost protect trophy-property values” is not a battle cry heard from international leaders fighting COVID-19 or rattling sabres in trade and border disputes.

A slim solace is found in expansionary major global central-bank policies, which are providing liquidity and cutting interest rates and, to some extent, underpinning property values.

Nevertheless, the global pandemic has sent Asia Pacific institutional