Asia Pacific RE investors shift to China and South Korea


COVID-19 has forced Asia Pacific non-listed real estate investors to reallocate from Australia and Japan to China and South Korea, according to not-for profit organisation the Asian Association for Investors in Non-Listed real Estate Vehicles (ANREV).
Although investors showed a continued appetite for Asia Pacific real estate, 75% of senior investors who participated in the survey on market sentiment amid COVID-19 said they would be revising their investment plans, with 53.3% of the respondents revealing their favoured locations were China and South Korea.
The move came at the expense of Australia and Japan, as only 33% of respondents stated they planned to increase their allocations to those markets, while 17% and 8%, respectively, declared intentions to decrease their allocations to these markets.
By comparison, none of the surveyed managers were planning to decrease their allocations to China or South Korea.
In terms of sectors, there had been strong interest to increase allocations to the industrial and logistics sectors (93.8% of respondents), as well as residential (56.3%) and data centres (25%).
“Despite the havoc brought by COVID-19, senior investors in Asia Pacific’s real estate market still appear to have strong appetite to increase their exposure to the region, an indication of the important role it continues to play in diversifying investment portfolios – even during difficult times,” Amélie Delaunay, director of research and professional standards at ANREV, said.
“It is worth bearing in mind that non-listed real estate investing is often a long-term commitment and that Asia Pacific real estate as a whole continues to rest on sound fundamentals that will continue to make it an attractive investment destination for years to come.”
Recommended for you
Clime Investment Management has welcomed an independent director to its board, which follows a series of recent appointments at the company.
Ethical investment manager Australian Ethical has cited the ongoing challenging market environment for its modest decrease in assets over the latest quarter.
Commentators have said Australian fund managers are less knowledgeable compared with overseas peers when it comes to expanding their range with ETFs and underestimating the competition from passive strategies.
VanEck is to list two ETFs on the ASX next week, one investing in residential mortgage-backed securities and the other in Indian companies.