Finance in brief: ULI Conference 6 February 2016

Blackstone boss says: sell Blackstone’s head of real estate in Europe signalled a shift towards asset sales at the ULI European conference in Paris this week. Anthony Myers said the company had been a net buyer between 2011 and 2015 but that “today we reach an equilibrium, and believe it is a good time to sell”. GIC eyes mixed-use GIC is to focus on mixed-use schemes as the global trend towards urbanisation continues. Chris Morrish, head of Europe for GIC, said his firm would look to “make places exciting to be” to enhance income from a collection of sources. But one model would not fit all regions, and developments are not replicable, he added. Migrant crisis ‘greatest threat’ The biggest threat to European real estate will come from the migrant crisis and not from the fall in oil prices or Chinese volatility, said Michael Heins, chief economist at Allianz. Migration could boost the likelihood of Brexit and put pressure on the economies of European states, taking money away from investment. Strong dollar hits US investors US investors have suffered up to 20% falls in the value of their European investments because of the strong dollar, said Rob Kochis of Townsend Group. The capital adviser said US investors were now looking at new regions and investment styles to claw back the potential losses. These people still saw property as a store of wealth, he said, and used assets to “prop up their portfolios” as other markets remained turbulent.