The world’s top 100 real estate investors own close to $2,900bn (£1,700bn) of assets, the first ranking of global property firms can reveal.
Estates Gazette compiled the list, which focuses on real estate asset-owning firms rather than debt or securities investors, for its EG Global special edition.
EG’s Global Rankings reveal just how much of a driving force real estate is in the world economy, with the top 100 property companies owning assets valued collectively more than the GDP of France, which according to World Bank figures tops $2,600bn.
The top 50 firms have assets valued in line with the GDPs of Italy or India.
At number one in the list is Brookfield Asset Management, the US giant headed by Bruce Flatt. With $108bn of real estate assets, it is almost $19bn ahead of its nearest rival, CBRE Global Investors. CBRE GI has almost $10bn on its nearest competitor Blackstone, which holds $79.4bn of property assets.
North American firms make up the majority of the global asset base, accounting for 37 of the top 100 spots in EG’s rankings and more than $1,300bn of assets. Asia follows close behind, with 33 companies in the list and assets of $926bn. Between them, the two continents make up 77% of the EG Global universe.
Just five sovereign wealth funds make it on to the list, with only the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority with its $47bn of assets in the top 20.
Andrew Moylan, head of real estate asset products at Preqin, which helped compile the list, said that just 34% of SWFs invested directly in real estate, with many choosing to invest via several of the firms in our list.
“SWFs are often seen as focusing on trophy assets in a handful of the world’s biggest cities, and while this has certainly been the case, many are targeting diverse real estate exposure,” he said.
Moylan added that many SWFs were still building their real estate allocations, so he expected to see more of them on the list in the coming years.
| Property’s top investors | |
|---|---|
| Assets ($bn) | |
| Brookfield AM | 108 |
| CBRE GI | 89.1 |
| Blackstone | 79.4 |
| Tishman Speyer | 64.8 |
| Axa Real Estate | 64.2 |
| Source: EG Global Rankings | |
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Samantha.McClary@estatesgazette.com
