Real Estate Investment Management in the light of ESG

Over the past years, the relevance of real estate funds with an ESG-focus has increased. While some players managed to establish themselves successfully as sustainable Real Estate Investment Managers (REIMs), others only did little to prepare their organizations for this shift.

With regulatory compliance being the first priority, some players dedicated a large part of their recent efforts ensuring the required regulation is implemented – which felt more like a box ticking exercise rather than incorporating the ESG potential in their long-term strategy. However, one thing is clear: REIMs must react now to create a profound basis for their future business. Having realized this, the first step includes the definition of an individual ESG ambition level – meaning, REIMs have to define whether and to what extent they aim to integrate ESG criteria across their value chain. These questions go way beyond regulatory considerations.