Vice President of Investment Affairs & Investor Education Meredith Despins says the $5 trillion pension and endowment fund market has become an important area of focus for NAREIT's outreach and education program. Estimates put these institutions' combined investment in commerical real estate at more than $500 billion. While these institutional investors have kept their capital on the sidelines in 2008 and 2009, industry research suggests that they plan to boost new investment in commercial real estate upwards of 90 percent over last year to $34 billion in 2010. Despins says that in meetings with endowments and pension funds, the members of NAREIT's Research & Investor Outreach team are finding heightened interest in REIT investment. These institutions are "moving up the learning curve" with regard to publicly traded REITs, embracing the "broad utility and flexibility" that they bring to portfolios, according to Despins.