A Survey on Institutional Investors' Attitudes and Perceptions of Residential Property

This paper provides evidence about institutional investorsí attitudes and perceptions of residential property as an investment asset group in three European countries (Switzerland, the Netherlands and Sweden). These are countries where the allocation of institutional funds to private rented housing is relatively important. In fact, housing is the main institutional property asset group in Switzerland and the Netherlands, with institutional property portfolio allocations over 52% and 50% respectively. In Sweden residential property plays a relatively less important role in the institutional property portfolios, representing, nevertheless, about 21% of the institutional property holdings. Using a stratified mail survey of representatives of pension funds, insurance companies, property investment and asset management companies the study analyses the attractiveness of residential property in terms of institutional investment goals. The survey examines the institutional investors' perceptions of housing investment, namely with respect to its returns, volatility, inflation hedging, liabilities matching and correlation with shares, bonds and non-residential property. Additionally, the survey looks at the institutional investors' experiences regarding private rented sector. The results of this study are compared and contrasted with previous surveys.