UK and German investors need €39bn to plug debt gap
Investors in the UK and Germany may need to come up with €39 billion over the next few years to plug the real estate debt funding gap created by the COVID-19 crisis.
Investors in the UK and Germany may need to come up with €39 billion over the next few years to plug the real estate debt funding gap created by the COVID-19 crisis.
Imagine waking to the sound of waves crashing at your door. Stepping onto your front porch for some deep-sea fishing, an endless blue horizon in every direction, watching whales breeching in the distance, before taking your jet ski down to your neighbourhood’s local floating beach. Picture doing all of this somewhere out in the Pacific, immune from the rising ocean swallowing the world around you.
Over the last 50 years the style of the modern office has changed considerably. Initially offices were populated by personal cellular spaces, which encouraged both privacy and a quiet working environment, with limited interaction with colleagues — apart from around the coffee machine, photocopier or fax machine.
Last year the UK became the first major economy to pass a law requiring that its greenhouse gas emissions reach net zero by 2050.
Swiss Life Asset Managers and Brunswick Real Estate have both launched funds with a €1 billion fundraising target.
Investment into the European logistics sector dropped in the first half of 2020, but Savills expects the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to accelerate online retail by a year and so further boost already strong demand for prime logistics space in the region.
The flexible office market could be shifting significantly towards suburban city areas in response to changing work practices brought on by the COVID-19 crisis.
Open- and closed-end funds have reported increasing problems with rent collection across Europe, as restrictions on business activity and local lockdowns continue to heavily damage the continent’s economies.
Alternative asset classes such as infrastructure, private equity, hedge funds and venture capital can undoubtedly offer a range of potential return and diversification benefits previously out of reach of DC members. However, with them come liquidity, operational and governance challenges for trustees to overcome.
We’re now well into this year’s global COVID-19 pandemic, with no clear signs of when things will turn around. The scientific community continues to pursue a safe and effective vaccine, with billions being invested to discover the right balance for widespread manufacturing and distribution.
A few years ago, I returned to Paris exhausted from a business trip abroad (you know, that time when we used to travel to places for work), so I took a nap before dinner. I woke up at 3 a.m. the next morning, starving. My fridge, however, was empty.