Welcome
I want to begin by paying tribute to my friend Erwin Stouthamer, who sadly passed away some weeks ago. Erwin was not just a member of the INREV Management Board, but also a very active supporter of the organisation. I always appreciated his frequent visits to our former offices at the Amsterdam World Trade Center, whether to brainstorm new research topics with us, discuss changes in the market, or simply to make new team members welcome. He will be greatly missed, both here and in the wider industry.
On a happier note, those of you able to attend the INREV AGM in Vienna will know that we have appointed a new Chairman, Neil Harris, Senior Vice President at GIC Real Estate International. Neil has more than 30 years’ experience in European real estate, and has been with GIC since 2007. He succeeds Patrick Kanters, whom I would like to thank for his six years’ devoted service on the INREV Management Board. Among many valuable contributions, he spearheaded the Public Affairs programme, drove our efforts in the global arena – with a particular emphasis on global standards - and supported INREV strongly in reaching out to similar bodies in the US market.
I am pleased to highlight two new additions to the INREV suite of indices. These are the Global Investor Real Estate Performance Index, which you can read more about in this issue, and the new German Vehicle Index, which will be launched later this month, covering more than 170 funds domiciled in Germany. Both indices represents a significant boost to market transparency. The investor index will bring about a new level of understanding on investment performance, while the German index includes many vehicles that were not previously part of other INREV indices, making it more robust through the inclusion of these funds.
On the educational side, INREV is hosting a session at this month’s European Real Estate Society (ERES) Conference in Regensburg. In line with the objective of our 2016 Business Plan, we will be presenting best-inclass academic research – in this case in two papers on persistence in real estate performance and currency risk management within funds.
Thinking about longer-term developments at INREV, I would particularly draw your attention to the Asset Level Index that we are now developing. This promises to be of great benefit to investors, managers and advisors alike, and should bring much greater transparency and potential for analysis to the non-listed real estate space. You can read more about it in the committee spotlight section of IQ.
