Dominique Moerenhout, CEO of the European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA), participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITworld: 2018 Annual Conference in San Francisco.
Moerenhout commented on a recent EPRA-sponsored CEM Benchmarking Research study into European institutional investors. The study showed that across eight major asset classes, the listed real estate sector delivered the highest institutional returns in the UK and the second highest in the Netherlands—Europe’s two largest private pension fund markets.
“Those results are a very good indication that not only has the listed real estate sector performed much better than expected over the last decade, but it also shows a very promising future,” Moerenhout said.
Moerenhout added that 2018 was another strong year for initial public offerings (IPOs) in Europe, with 10 IPOs generating 3 billion euros. He also highlighted a study by research firm Kempen pointing to a possible doubling in size of the benchmark FTSE EPRA Nareit Developed Europe listed real estate index within the next five years.
Meanwhile, Moerenhout also discussed the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II, which he said has made it more difficult for listed real estate companies and investors to access each other through their traditional broker and investment banking channels.