Friso Berghuis, director of listed investments at Dutch pension fund investment manager Bouwinvest, joined the REIT Report podcast to discuss the integration of REITs and listed real estate into Bouwinvest’s global investment strategy.
Bouwinvest has executed on a fully integrated public and private real estate strategy since 2012. Berghuis noted that including listed real estate ensures the opportunity to invest in specific compelling geographic markets and sectors such as health care, self-storage, and data centers.
“Essentially, investing in listed real estate means you are also adding high quality diversified portfolios to the mix. And these portfolios are generally managed by seasoned management teams,” Berghuis said.
Other reasons to choose global listed real estate include the ability to move quickly to invest in multiple sectors and markets, and the fact that listed and unlisted investments generally do not move in sync, he noted.
Adding listed real estate to the mix also gives directional information, Berghuis noted. According to Berghuis, the United States is ahead of other geographic regions when it comes to introducing new or niche property sectors. “To us, that is very helpful to see if these niche new sectors also are likely to get traction in regions like Europe and APEC.” At the same time, the U.S. provides an early indicator to downside trends, he added.
During the interview, Berghuis also commented on the importance of local investment managers, and upcoming changes to the Dutch pension system.