The real estate investment industry is complex and diverse and plays a crucial role in every aspect of our lives by shaping our built environment. At the same time, real estate investors heavily contribute to economic activity, employment and the community we live in by actively investing in, developing, managing, maintaining and improving the real estate assets which facilitate our economic, business, and social lives.
Proper recognition of the distinct real estate market actors and the ability to correctly classify them is important in understanding the industry as a whole. These market players operate in a highly regulated industry under a framework of EU legislation, national parliamentary supervision and local financial markets regulators. It is important that policy-makers take account of all segments of the sector to better shape the regulatory environment to allow the property industry to thrive and serve society to the highest standards.
EPRA, in collaboration with PwC, has prepared a report that gives the reader an overview of the various actors in the property investment market, including listed property companies, REITs and funds. It aims to debunk some of the sector’s perceived complexities and details the different investment and financing options available, including sustainable and green financing. It also provides an outline of the REIT regime and the real estate fund management function.
While there are complementary ways to invest in real estate, listed real estate, in particular, provides retirement security to millions of citizens by offering a highly competitive asset class to retail and institutional investors. It offers the tangible aspect of investing in the underlying brick and mortar, but with the benefits of higher liquidity, diversification, long-term attractive and inflation-protected returns and dividend yields, in line with the highest ESG and transparency standards.
