Realcast: AI interferes, fund managers’ AUM escalates, shed shapers make ready
In the headlines this week:
While telecoms giant BT announced it is to lay off 10,000 people because AI can replace them which will further fuel discussion about the future of offices.
Meanwhile, INREV’s fund manager survey 2023 showed that 81% of last year’s total assets under management were concentrated in the hands of the top-10 fund managers – that’s been the trend for a while but it seems to be strengthening
Total assets under management at the top 10 fund managers, globally, exceeded €1.8 trillion, which was up from the year before. Overall, AUM has increased and INREV head of research Iryna Pylypchuk said the vast quantities of ‘dry powder’ fund managers have accumulated could trigger a very quick turnaround. That ‘dry powder’ includes €215 billion concentrated among the top 10 managers – the top three worldwide are Blackstone, Brookfield and Prologis and in Europe, the top three are AXA IM, Swiss life and Blackstone.
Research on the office sector by DWS indicates this is a period of transition for the office sector and it will come back in a big way with significant opportunities in the right markets for refurbishing old assets to make them ESG compliant. DWS named the top seven markets – London, Paris Munich, Berlin, Amsterdam, Stockholm and Madrid.
In the logistics sector, warehouse specialist CTP announced it will invest €600 billion in Germany and Poland, two markets where the group is already has a strong presence. CEO Remon Vos said the firm will invest in a mix of new builds, and acquisitions in what is a vote of confidence in the logistics sector. CTP also plans to double the size of its panEuropean portfolio to 20 million sq m.
At Real Asset Media’s Logistics Real Estate briefing during the recent Transport Logistic show, Cushman & Wakefield logistics research head Sally Bruer said that although the market in Europe has seen demand faltering – demand slowed to 37 million sq m in the 12 months to the end of March 2023, 19% off the mid-2022 peak – the early signs of business confidence returning are already evident.
And, on message, UK industrial and logistics REIT Segro announced it will invest £2 billion in the development of 13.5 million sq ft of net-zero warehouse facilities in the UK’s West Midlands region over the next decade as a strategic partner of the West Midlands Combined Authority WMCA.
Also in the UK. but in the healthcare sector, Knight Frank report revealed that in 2022 UK healthcare bed numbers actually fell and the number of new homes completed dipped by 15% even though a shortfall of more than 200,000 beds is already expected by 2050.
The report found that the much of the UK care home market comprises older, converted stock that, in some cases, “may be considered obsolete” and a lot of that is owing to the lack of adequate bathroom facilities.
Real Asset Media, alongside SHHA and EPRA, will be running a special session in Brussels on senior living which is a big focus for all of Europe
Click on the video to see the full discussion or listen to the podcast below.
