The easy money in cap rate compression is done and dusted. It is now all about trying to make income work much more than it did in the last five years.”

Those were the words of one investor at the Institutional Real Estate Asia Pacific Editorial Advisory Board meeting, which was held 31 October and 1 November 2018 at the Grand Hyatt Seoul. In light of this new reality, the investor in question went on to make two points. First, his organisation expects increased volatility in capital markets, resulting in an even greater emphasis on liquidity management in 2019. Second, it needs to manage the transition from a largely-disinflationary environment following the global financial crisis, to a (albeit only slightly) more inflationary one.

Given that generating returns in this climate will pose new challenges for portfolios, one watchword consistently emerged over the two-day discussion among the 24 meeting participants: adjustment.

Action plans for