Click here to download this report by Steve Bergsman and published in The Institutional Real Estate Letter – Americas

In 2008 and 2009, a significant amount of money was invested in debt. Although this strategy didn’t play out the way investors figured, even in 2012 the majority of capital raised was by funds making a debt investment.

As real estate markets rebound, property owners, investors and developers are going to need more and more debt to transact deals. The current wave of debt funds is all about supplying debt, sometimes as first lender and sometimes as the second pancake in the capital stack. This kind of optimistic thinking has attracted a wave of pension plans to the real estate debt business.

Download this article to learn:

• which are the largest real estate debt funds
• the need for debt funds and their different risk/return characteristics
• more about mezzanine lenders

and more! To read the full article, click here.

To learn more about real estate investment, click here.

Leading up to the 12th annual Real Estate Investment World Asia 2013 convention, this was the question we asked our blog subscribers, LinkedIn group members and anyone in our contact network.

The 10 personalities featured in the eBook were selected based on their outstanding career achievements, whether these were ground breaking deals, philanthropic contributions, lifetime dedication to the industry or simply because they might have inspired others to do better, which certainly makes for interesting reading.

Download the eBook to find out who are the 10 personalities featured!

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About Real Estate Investment World Asia 2013

The 12th annual Real Estate Investment World Asia is the region’s largest and most established convention to showcase the strategies, personalities and companies that represent real estate investment management, development and finance.  This is where institutional investors, property funds, developers and deal makers convene to discuss innovative financing vehicles, investment structures and capital raising strategies across the risk-returns and geographic spectrums for the listed and private property investment community. Download the conference brochure here.

With this acquisition, the new cities that Ascott REIT will be present in are Shanghai, Shenyang, Suzhou, Fukuoka, Sapporo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Saga and Sendai, up from 25 to 32 cities.

The acquisition will boost the trust’s asset size to $3.1 billion, an increment by 11%. And its share of assets from Asia will increase from 59 per cent to 63 per cent of its total asset value.

Chief executive officer of Ascott Residence Trust Management, Ronald Tay said: “Hopefully we will be able to make some acquisitions in the second half of the year. We continue to like Asia very much. So the key markets like Singapore China, and potentially India as well as a new market. For Europe, we will continue to look at Europe on an opportunistic basis. Markets that we like are in Europe include London, Paris and key gateway cities in Germany. “

What are the acquisition growth and asset enhancement plans for Asian REITS? We bring together leading Asian REITs to share their perspective at the upcoming Real Estate Investment World Asia this June in Singapore. Featured Asian REITs include:

• Lynette Leong, Chief Executive Officer, CapitaCommercial Trust Management Limited, Singapore
• Dato Jeffrey Ng, Chief Executive Officer, Sunway REIT Management Sdn Bhd, Malaysia
• Anthony Ang, Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director, ARA Asset Management (Fortune) Limited, Singapore

Download the brochure to view the list of 100+ leading real estate investment experts who will be speaking at the conference.

With that in mind, we have brought together key industry experts who will discuss what is the key to a complete institutional portfolio at a panel discussion at Real Estate Investment World Asia 2013.

Below is the list of speakers participating in the discussion:

Tyler Goodwin, Managing Director, Head of Asian Client Strategy – Global Real Assets, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Hong Kong

Tyler has over 23 years of real asset experience across Asia, the United States and Canada which includes experience in real estate, private equity, investment banking and property development.  At J.P. Morgan Asset Management, he is responsible for advising clients throughout Asia on the opportunities and risks associated with investing in real estate and infrastructure real assets. He has been an investor in both Deutsche Bank’s and J.P. Morgan’s Real Estate Principal Investments Group, where he invested in real estate through equity, debt and structured finance.  He spent 5 years at Urban Land Capital in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Vancouver, working in real estate and private equity and worked in real estate development in Indonesia for 7 years.  Tyler sits on J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s Global Advisory Council and on the North Asia Executive Committee of the Washington-based Urban Land Institute. 

Navid Chamdia, Head of Real Estate, Qatar Investment Authority, Qatar

With over a decade of experience, Navid is also responsible for real estate fund investments made by QIA. He is responsible for managing the Qatar Holding international real estate portfolio, which includes a significant stake in Canary Wharf Group (a UK-based commercial real estate company), a significant stake in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur ($1.5 billion retail and mixed-use complex in Kuala Lumpur), the GM Building in New York and various other assets across Europe, Asia, Latin and North America. Prior to joining Qatar Holding / Qatar Investment Authority in 2005, Navid spent 12 years at Ernst & Young Project Finance (London), advising on the financing and delivery of over $10 billion of global real estate and infrastructure projects.   

Dick Van Hal, Chairman of the Board & Chief Executive Officer, Bouwinvest Real Estate Investment Management B.V, Netherlands

Dick Van Hal has been the Chairman of the Management Board & Chief Executive Officer of Bouwinvest since his appointment on 1 March 2008.  From 1999 until that time, he held several senior positions at Syntrus Achmea Vastgoed, including Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer.  Dick started his career with Centraal Beheer Beleggingen and Staal Bankiers.

Henry Ching, Principal, Mercer LLC, Hong Kong

Henry is part of Mercer’s Asia Pacific real estate boutique and is responsible for investment consulting and research across the private and listed real estate markets in Asia.  Henry has previously worked at Towers Watson (Hong Kong), where he was responsible for researching Asia-focused private markets managers and providing investment consulting services to Asian clients, such as pension funds and sovereign wealth funds; as well as the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) in Toronto, where he was responsible for researching and implementing new asset classes into CPPIB’s investment portfolio, and analysing direct investments.

Over 100 leading real estate investment experts will be sharing their insights and strategies on navigating the Asian market. Download the brochure to view speaker line up.

“Rising visitor arrivals, robust trading performance and positive market dynamics have put emerging South East Asian markets such as Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar back into the investment spotlight,” Tom Oakden, Executive Vice President, Investment Sales for Jones Lang LaSalle’s Hotels & Hospitality Group revealed.

Airlift has been the big game changer for many markets in South East Asia and upgraded infrastructure has enhanced the ease of travel and improved links to the rest of Asia. This is evident in the double digit tourism growth witnessed in Vietnam (15 percent), Cambodia (25 percent) and Myanmar (55 percent) in 2012, when compared with 2011.

“The affordability factor and capital growth prospects some of these markets offer when benchmarked against other more mature Asia gateway cities that have seen huge appreciation in recent years is also a driving factor,” Tom added.

Vietnam is a wonderfully diverse country with spectacular beaches, seven UNESCO World Heritage listed sites and other cultural attractions. Whilst the economy is in recovery mode, the medium to long term potential of Vietnam as an investment destination is being recognised. Neighbouring Cambodia is on the cusp of real economic and tourism growth, with rising visitor arrivals and increasing foreign direct investment from countries such as South Korea, Vietnam and China. With limited hotel supply in the key cities of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap and 443 kilometres of unexploited coastline, Cambodia is attracting the attention of both domestic and regional investors and developers.

Perhaps the greatest potential lies in the Myanmar hotel market, which has benefited from a demand-supply imbalance to become one of the best performing hotel markets in Asia. Operators are enjoying strong RevPAR growth from leisure and corporate travellers in hotspots like Yangon and Mandalay. However, until further foreign investment law is enacted and economic reform takes shape, it will be challenging to establish genuine hotel investment sales. That said, international hotel companies are doing their best to secure opportunities with domestic owners and developers, including Accor who is developing three newly built hotels in Myanmar.

Read the full article on Hospitality.Net website here.

Emerging markets in South East Asia are under the spotlight due to its untapped potential. At the upcoming hospitality conference in November, we will be discussing the development and investment opportunities in Indochina. Over 150 senior executives from the SE-Asian hospitality sector will gather at this industry event. Showcase your service and solutions to them by becoming a sponsor. Get in touch with us for sponsorship opportunities now.

Stephen will be interviewed by Roy Melick, Partner, Baker & Mackenzie on “Think like a freak: Business and crisis management lessons for profitability”.

The 12th annual Real Estate Investment World Asia is the region’s largest and most established convention to showcase the strategies, personalities and companies that represent real estate investment management, development and finance.

Beside Stephen Dubner, leading industry experts from Lend Lease, Global Logistics Properties, CITIC Capital Holdings, SEB Unvestment GmbH and many others will be at REIW Asia 2013. This is the only conference that brings the entire real estate investment industry at a single plaform!

View the full speaker line-up here. Registration is now open. Book your seat before 31 May and save up to SGD 240!

As stated in its preliminary propsectus, 11 cornerstone investors which include Citadel Asset Management, D E Shaw Valence International, Eastspring Investments and JF Asset Asset Management, have also agreed to subscribe to 163.7 million units at the offering price. The trust is forecasting a yield of 8 per cent for the financial year ending June 30, 2013 and 8.1 per cent the year after.

Singapore is currently one of the more popular countries for companies to do IPO listing. What are the opportunities and challenges for REITS IPOs in South-east Asia?

This June at Real Estate Investment World Asia, we bring together a panel of industry experts to discuss the opportunities and challenges for REITS IPOs in South-east Asia. Panelists include:

• Virapan Pulges, Managing Director, TICON Industrial Connection Public Company Limited, Thailand
• Jason Kern, Managing Director, Head of Real Estate Lodging & Advisory – Asia Pacific, HSBC, Hong Kong
• Carol Mills, Assistant Vice President, Strategic Planning – Commercial Business Group, Ayala Land Inc, Philippines

Join over 500 attendees at REIW Asia. Registration is now open. Save up to S$240 when you book your seat today.

Having published extensively in both academic and practitioner journals on a wide range of economic and financial market issues, and ranked as the world’s ninth most prolific finance author of the past fifty years, Andrew will share the new standards in LDI benchmarking and its effectiveness in risk hedging.

Other prominent speakers who will be sharing their insights at the summit include:

• Tyler Goodwin, Managing Director, Head of Asian Client Strategy – Global Real Assets, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Hong Kong
• Navid Chamdia, Head of Real Estate, Qatar Investment Authority, Qatar
• Dick Van Hal, Chairman of the Board & Chief Executive Officer, Bouwinvest Real Estate Investment Management B.V, Netherlands
• Sonya Sawtell-Rickson, Senior Director, Diversified Funds Management, QIC, Australia
• Jimmy Phua, Managing Director, Head of Real Estate Investments – Asia, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Hong Kong
• Lee Hing Yin, Senior Executive Director, Real Estate Investment Department, Ping An Trust Co. Ltd, China
• Dr. Henry Chin, Head of Research & Strategy, Asia Pacific Pramerica Real Estate Investors (Asia) Pte Ltd, Hong Kong

Download the conference brochure the full summit topics and speaker line-up >

Facilitating networking and discussion at the highest level between institutional investors and private equity fund managers, this approach ensures an intensive and productive day, where LPs get to meet the best property funds and asset managers, interact with respected peers and discuss the investment issues that matter most to them. Registration is strictly restricted to prequalified institutional investors, general partners and placement agents only. A delegate place can only be confirmed upon approval by Terrapinn. Please contact Sharon Yang at +65 6322 2727 or sharon.yang@terrapinn.com to ascertain your eligibility.

Frank forecasts that vacancy rates will fall from 8% to 4% in 2014 while rental will climb 2-4 % next year.

According to Cushman and Wakefield, Tokyo’s CBD is currently the world’s 5th most expensive market to rent office space in. Investors are driving demand for REITs in recent months, resulting in shares of REITs to rise more than 50% YTD, in hopes that Prime Minister Abe’s economic revival plan will drive a recovery in the Japanese property market.

Frank Khoo, Global Head of Real Estate of AXA Real Estate will be sharing his insights at the upcoming Real Estate Investment World Asia 2013 taking place from 25-27 June in Singapore. Book your seat now to learn from leading real estate investment experts.

The workshop titled “The transparency revolution” examines ways decision-makers access, interpret and apply today’s real estate data. Using examples from a live web feed, it demonstrates new tools for forensically dissecting existing portfolios and investigating prospective real estate investment targets. Steve Williams, Executive Managing Director of Real Capital Analytics Inc. will be leading the workshop.

Workshop outline:

• Real estate markets and the capital that fuels them
• Understanding a shifting global set of market drivers
• New tools in an era of change
• Accessing accurate global real estate data via a daily feed and demonstration of essential tools
• Using local data to aggregate global trends – Comparing risks, yields and investment returns across the spectrum

Registration for the workshop is now open. Book before 31 May and enjoy greater savings.