New Directions for European non-listed property funds- A focus on the roles of the players in the European property investment market

Academic research often examined real estate as an asset class. These studies were often focused on risk-return issues, diversification benefits or certain securitized investment vehicles, mostly REITs and commercial mortgage backed securities. The research that covered the private equity side of the real estate capital market often-focused on direct property investments (e.g. property level returns and factors relating to portfolio performance). To my review of research literature, there have only been a few empirical studies conducted on the performance of the real estate private equity fund market. These studies often focused on small parts of the market, like opportunity funds[2] and not on the market of real estate private equity vehicles as a whole. That is why this paper examines the position of the European-focused non-listed property funds in relation to the rest of the indirect real estate market. The issues discussed in this paper are intended to support institutional investors in their selection of a non-listed property fund operated from the European Union.