In brief: Promoting wellness can help real estate managers stand out

The ‘S’ in ESG is an important and oft-forgotten way to increase value in real estate portfolios, an investment consultant said at this week’s Women In Private Markets Summit: North America by PEI Group. In a highly competitive fundraising market, “ESG strategies” can help real estate managers stand out from the crowd, the consultant said. The summit was held under Chatham House rules, so New Private Markets cannot identify the speakers.

The consultant is seeing many decarbonisation proposals and green buildings in pitch decks, which can prove attractive for their energy saving potential and can pique the interest of investors with net zero targets.

What they see less often are strategies promoting human “wellness”, but this is important to investors post-pandemic. “We want air conditioning. We need good air quality. We want basketball courts out front. We want walking trails around an industrial building. Go ahead and do that, landlord.”