Real Estate Portfolio Risk Management Practices Of Institutional Investors In Germany: A Survey

Perception of risk of real estate professionals has been sharpened by failure of banks in real estate sector and bankruptcy of reputed real estate companies in Germany. However, despite a risen awareness for real estate risk management only little is known about the current state of risk management in portfolio management of direct real estate investments. Even less is known about real estate portfolio risk management practices of the professional real estate community. The purpose of this paper is therefore to examine the current state of risk management as part of real estate portfolio management and to identify risk management methods and instruments used by the institutional investors to manage portfolios of direct real estate investments. The first part of the paper will focus on different types of institutional investors and address the current state and objectives of implementation of risk management tools. In the second part, risk management practices of institutional investors will be identified. Since the process of risk management as part of real estate portfolio management differs from investor to investor, this part will be based on a model of a structured risk management process for real estate portfolios. For each part of the suggested risk management process, the applied instruments and methods will be identified and their relative importance analyzed. The final part of the study will examine factors that might enhance further development of real estate portfolio risk management and conclude with a general outlook on the future development of real estate risk management. The results of this paper are based on a written survey among the largest institutional investors in Germany, more specifically open-ended funds, closed-ended funds, pension funds, insurance companies and property companies.