Even in the era of the mega-fund, institutional real estate investors have evolving investment needs where placement agents can play a unique role. Recently, Institutional Real Estate Asia Pacific senior editor Jennifer Molloy spoke with a number of placement agent experts, and their responses are collected below. The roundtable discussion includes Martijn van Eldik, head of private funds, JLL Asia Pacific; Yukihiko Ito, managing director, Asterisk Realty & Placement Agency; and Alfredo Lobo, partner, Hodes Weill & Associates.

As placement agents, how do you differentiate your clients in this time of the real estate mega-fund?

van Eldik: Several global managers — and, in fact, also a couple of regional managers out of Asia —  have been very successful in attracting institutional capital based on strong performance and consistency in managing their