Any current story about short- to mid-term investment strategy has to start with COVID-19. The disease that swept the world this spring shook asset values of all kinds. Some of them are still shaking.
As we live through these extraordinary times, four major trends driving real estate — demographic shifts, deficient supply, digital disruption and demand for yield — remain as relevant as ever in Asian growth markets.
In the medium and longer terms, the macro trends of urbanisation, growing middle class and increased connectivity will transcend the temporary disruptions caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, and underpin the resiliency and growth of infrastructure assets.
It is unclear what a “new normal” would look like, but one thing is certain: We are about to see some significant structural shifts as governments pump more liquidity (albeit with caveats), corporates look to stem the bloodletting, and citizens hunker down to ride out the tempest.
Two-thirds of global executives expect a moderate or significant contraction in the world’s economy over the next six months, with a record number believing company profits will decline, according to McKinsey & Co’s The coronavirus effect on global economic sentiment, a global survey.
On 29 April, ANREV, INREV and NCREIF announced the launch of the first Global IRR Index, providing data on the since-inception performance of value-added and opportunistic closed-end, nonlisted real estate funds in Asia Pacific, Europe and the United States.
APG, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and ESR have established a new development joint venture, ESR-KS II, with a total equity allocation of US$1 billion, representing an investment capacity to deliver as much as US$2 billion of new logistics development projects in South Korea.