The words “real estate investment trust” may yet summon images of dividend-clipping, risk-averse investors in the United States, but for institutional investors seeking exposure to the world’s largest property market — Asia — the otherwise-prosaic listed REIT offers easy access and liquidity.
The European hotel market has generally been under the radar of domestic and offshore investors alike, but in 2016, an influx of capital was chasing European hotels. The investment volume from Asian buyers last year was five times what it was during the same period in 2007. It also represented the fastest-growing region for capital flows into the sector.
Globally, fierce competition for core assets has increased as more international investors enter the arena, and investors now frequently face sky-high prices in prime gateway markets.
When it comes to creating enduring partnerships with real estate limited partners, the annual investor meeting can be a critical tool that is sometimes overlooked. Not only is the meeting a time to review a fund’s strategy and performance, it is also a time for general partners and LPs to share and understand respective concerns and challenges.
The expansion of an investable universe is not only a brute function of middle-class growth; it relies on efficient capital markets, clear property rights, attractive cross-border investment rules and decent tax regimes.
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has entered into two agreements to invest alongside Ivanhoé Cambridge, a real estate subsidiary of Canada’s Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, with logistics specialist LOGOS in LOGOS Singapore Logistics Venture and LOGOS Indonesia Logistics Venture to develop and acquire modern logistics facilities in Singapore and Indonesia, respectively.
Star Asia Group, a boutique investment management group focused on Japanese real estate opportunities, has formed a partnership with GSA, a purpose-built student-housing firm, to develop student accommodation assets in Japan.
March continued the positive performance for both Asia Pacific and global property stocks that began during December 2016, with the markets returning 2.2 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively. With the performance, the region’s property stocks returned 12.1 percent during first quarter 2017, driven primarily by strong developer returns.