Realcast at MIPIM: ESG opportunities, banks cause concern, investor insomnia

At MIPIM last week:

The Realcast team discussed some of the key takeaways from MIPIM, staged in Cannes last week and attended by about 23,000 delegates representing 90 countries.

The event revealed a strong emphasis on ESG, but widespread concern about the economy have set the scene for the real estate markets over the past months and more recent news from the banking sector in the US and Europe in the past week were ever present concerns.

One indicator of investor sentiment though was the Reinvest Summit, which brings together around 100 of the world’s largest capital owners, sovereign wealth funds and pension funds. When asked to discuss, “what keeps you up at night?” the list was long: inflation; interest rates; how to value real estate nowadays. Also, ESG is an opportunity, but investors want to know how to measure it, study it, what it means and how to make returns while making an impact.

However, investors are sanguine about geopolitics. While it looms over everything, they know it is outwith their control, apart from mitigating problems. Nevertheless, investors are bullish about certain sectors such as data centres, life sciences and industrial.

Investment promotion agencies were more confident than they were last year. The war in Ukraine is causing delegates from the Baltics and Central and Eastern Europe still to worry, but they are getting back to business. Toward the end of the week, storm clouds were again gathering as new concerns about the banking sector took shape following news about Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse and the 50 bps base rate rise by the ECB during the week.

But ESG was a major preoccupation as many exhibitors have made major public statements about their position. Christina Gamboa, chief executive of the World Green Building Council said she is seeing good progress across the 78 countries with which the council is involved, but there is still much to be done.

Among other positives, gender diversity is improving at the show and for the first time at MIPIM a Real Asset Media event was attended by more female delegates than male.

Click on the video to see the full discussion or listen to the podcast below.

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