Europe

Investing to produce social and environmental improvements does not need to come at the expense of financial returns, according to the participants at PERE’s impact investing roundtable.

Talent and hard work alone are not enough to allow female professionals in the private real estate industry to rise to the top.

According to AXA IM Alts head Isabelle Scemama, one key factor holds female real estate professionals back in advancing in their careers.

So-called ‘beds for rent’ sectors in the UK are becoming a preferred allocation choice for investors over offices and retail, according to findings published by Investec.

The high-profile departure comes two years after the New York-based investment bank’s reorganization of its property businesses.

The Korean insurer’s $1bn commitment will initially be allocated to three of the firm’s Asian and European real estate funds.

The industry’s escalated focus on placing more women into senior roles has raised new concerns for professionals in private real estate.

The push to hire or recruit women into top-level roles in private real estate comes with a multitude of challenges, not least of which is the lack of senior females in the industry.

James Jacobs, head of real estate for Lazard’s private capital advisory group, says the easing of restrictions on both sides of the Atlantic is changing institutions’ appetite for risk.

Starwood now expects less troubled deal flow to emerge in the non-performing-loan space from the current pandemic crisis than it did before. But that should not worry investors which committed to its latest ‘distressed’ fund.