‘Billion Dollar Club’ investors’ total allocations equivalent to 84 percent of total industry assets, according to Preqin, the independent data and intelligence source for the alternative assets industry.
The ‘Billion Dollar Club’, comprising those institutional investors which allocate $1 billion or more to real estate, has grown to 499 members in 2018.
This is up from 442 in 2017, a 13 percent increase, illustrating the abiding interest in real estate investments.
In total, Billion Dollar Club investors have $2.53 trillion allocated to the asset class, equivalent to 84 percent of the $3.01 trillion in assets held by the industry.
This is up substantially from $2.19 trillion that they allocated in 2017, as almost all investor types in the club saw double-digit percentage point increases to their allocations.
Public pension funds and insurance companies comprise the largest proportions of the Billion Dollar Club, accounting for 28 percent and 21 percent of its members respectively, and each accounting for 26 percent of aggregate allocations.
Tom Carr, head of real estate at Preqin, said: “The Billion Dollar Club of the largest investors in real estate has grown to almost 500 members and the allocations of these investors now exceed $2.5 trillion, accounting for the vast majority of capital dedicated to the industry. It is striking that this figure has grown so much over the past year, and perhaps reflects a trend towards inflation-hedging and non correlated assets on the part of investors.”
He added: “The appeal of real estate in this regard is strong: opportunities for investment in the asset class are diverse both globally and across risk/return profiles. We may see more investors position themselves in anticipation of a market shift in the coming months and embrace real estate investments further, in which case the Billion Dollar Club could continue to swell.”
