Real Asset Media Thought Leaders

Increased defence spending across Europe could create new opportunities for Romania's real estate sector, according to Voichita Lefter, secretary general of the Association of Real Estate Investors in Romania (AREI). Speaking to Real Asset Media's Richard Betts at Mipim 2026, Lefter said Romania remained an attractive destination for international capital, with opportunities across logistics, indu...

Swiss Life Asset Managers is positioning itself for what it sees as the beginning of a new growth cycle in European logistics, supported by rising occupier demand, strengthening rents and continued investor appetite across key markets. “We are very optimistic about the beginning of the next cycle for logistics,” Ingo Steves, managing partner, logistics, at Swiss Life Asset Managers, told Real Asse...

Alexandre Grellier, chief executive and co-founder of Drooms, said real estate transactions are taking longer to complete as financing requirements become more demanding and investors request increasingly detailed documentation. He added that concerns around digital sovereignty are reshaping how firms deploy AI tools in Europe. Speaking to Real Asset Media’s Richard Betts, Grellier said Drooms’ re...

Speaking to REAL FDI at Mipim 2026, Thorsteinn R Hermannsson, director of development at Transport for the Capital Area, Iceland, and Joanna Attvall, architect and partner at FOJAB, set out plans for Keldur, a major new residential-led urban district in Reykjavik designed to attract international capital. Hermannsson described the project as a uniquely large, single-owner development opportunity w...

Speaking to Real Asset Media at Mipim 2026 in Cannes, Dr Wulf Meinel, founding partner at StoneVest, set out why investors should look beyond logistics to uncover value in Germany’s industrial sector. He acknowledged the challenging macro backdrop but framed it as an opportunity rather than a deterrent. “The German economy faces some headwinds, but headwinds are a chance,” he said. “If you take a...

Speaking to REAL FDI at Mipim, Gocha Kamkia, chief executive officer of Ambassadori Island Batumi, set out plans to deliver a 102-hectare artificial island development on Georgia’s Black Sea coast. The project combines real estate, infrastructure and a long-term smart city strategy aimed at international investors. He described the project as “the address of the Black Sea”, positioning it as both...

Speaking to Real FDI at Mipim 2026, Pálmi Randversson, managing director of Keflavík Airport Development Company (KADECO), outlines the strategy behind Iceland’s K64 masterplan and the growing international interest in the Keflavík Airport development zone. He explains that K64 - Iceland's Airport Region, as the project is branded, is a long-term development framework for land surrounding Keflavík...

Speaking to Real Asset Media at Mipim 2026, David Inskip, EMEA head of research at CBRE Investment Management, shares his insights on the outlook for European real estate, including market sentiment, sector dynamics and capital flows. Inskip explains that the market has firmly transitioned into a higher interest rate environment, with investors increasingly focused on income growth and net operati...

Europe’s residential and living sectors are attracting growing investor interest, supported by supply shortages and shifting capital allocation, according to Rainer Nonnengässer, managing director of omniLiv. Speaking at Mipim 2026 in an interview with Real Asset Media, Nonnengässer said the region is benefiting from renewed global attention, although he stopped short of describing it as a defensi...

Investor sentiment remains sharply divided as real estate markets navigate an uncertain macroeconomic backdrop, with structural sectors offering the clearest opportunities for 2026, according to Petra Blazkova, head of research and strategy at Catella Group, the European real estate investment manager.  Speaking to Real Asset Media at Mipim 2026, she said the firm has adopted a cautious but forwar...

Romania is strengthening coordination between central and local authorities while overhauling investment legislation to attract international capital, Orsolya Mária Kövér, secretary of state at the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration, said. Speaking to Richard Betts, group publisher of Real Asset Media, at Mipim 2026 in Cannes, Kövér outlined reforms aimed at improving permitt...

Europe’s data centre market is rapidly evolving into one of the most dynamic areas of real estate investment, shaped by digital transformation, geopolitical pressures and shifting stakeholder expectations, according to Thomas Veith, global real estate leader at PwC. Speaking at Mipim 2026 in Cannes in an interview with Richard Betts, group publisher of Real Asset Media, Veith said the sector has e...

With increasing complexity for real estate investors, partnerships are now being seen as key in terms of building and delivering solutions for clients according to Angie Abbis, Director, Data Digital Services Finance Automation at RSM in New York and Jan-Willem Jeucken, Associate Director Europe at Yardi as they discuss the expansion of their collaboration in Europe with Richard Betts of Real Asse...

Andreas Walter, partner and attorney at law at German boutique firm Yester & Morrow, says Europe’s real estate market is approaching a decisive turning point as refinancing pressure builds and regulatory reforms unlock new sources of long-term capital. Speaking to Real Asset Media, Walter said prolonged market inertia since 2024 is nearing its end. “In 2026, we are going to see a market moveme...

German real estate debt strategies are entering a new market cycle with improving fundamentals, despite continued fundraising challenges and selective competition for lower-risk assets, according to Patrick Züchner, chief investment officer at Aukera Real Estate. Speaking to Real Asset Media, Züchner said Aukera benefits from a long operating history across cycles, even though the firm itself was...

Germany’s acute housing shortage, particularly in major cities such as Berlin, is driving growing demand for smaller, more affordable rental homes and reshaping development strategies across the market, according to Matthias Euler, managing director, Germany and Austria, at Greystar. Speaking to Real Asset Media at EXPO Real 2025, Euler said: “I think the German residential market is one of the ho...

Alexander Fröse, managing partner and founder of Periskop Living, outlines the group’s plans to expand its senior living investment strategy beyond Germany and into new European markets. Speaking to Real Asset Media, Fröse said: “Periskop Living is headquartered in Berlin. It’s an investment management company just focused on health care, typically on senior living, which means care homes and assi...

Commercial real estate lending conditions in the US are beginning to improve, with early interest rate cuts and a gradual recovery in office demand expected to support increased acquisition and refinancing activity through 2026, according to Helga Blum, managing director and head of US real estate finance at BayernLB. Speaking to Real Asset Media at EXPO REAL in October 2025, Blum said the US lend...

Germany’s senior living market is entering a period of rapid expansion, driven by accelerating demographic change, improving affordability, and a shift away from traditional nursing home models, according to Kip Sloane, managing director at SCHÖNES LEBEN Group. Speaking to Real Asset Media at EXPO Real 2025, Sloane said the fundamentals supporting premium senior housing in Germany are now firmly i...

Indoor air quality is emerging as a commercial and regulatory priority for real estate owners, with growing evidence that combining air quality monitoring with energy management can improve tenant retention, asset performance, and financial outcomes, according to Jan-Kristian Westerlund, chief commercial officer at freesi. Speaking to Real Asset Media at EXPO Real 2025, Westerlund said indoor air...

People and capital must come together if European cities are to attract long-term investment and remain competitive, according to Annelou de Groot, chief executive officer for the Netherlands at Cushman & Wakefield. Speaking to Real Asset Media at EXPO Real 2025, de Groot said successful city investment strategies depend on aligning capital deployment with social outcomes. “The key takeaways f...

Falling interest rates should help revive activity across the US commercial real estate market, supporting higher transaction and lending volumes, according to Vikram Killampali, senior director and manager of US commercial real estate finance syndications at Helaba. Speaking to Real Asset Media at EXPO Real 2025, Killampali was taking part in what he said was the first panel hosted in Germany by...

Warsaw’s long-term transformation of its city centre is strengthening the quality of life, attracting talent, and boosting private-sector investment, according to Maciej Fijałkowski, secretary of the City of Warsaw. Speaking to Real Asset Media at EXPO Real 2025, Fijałkowski said the Polish capital’s strategy focuses on combining heritage, contemporary development, and future growth, while positio...

Falling interest rates should help revive activity across the US commercial real estate market, supporting higher transaction and lending volumes, according to Vikram Killampali, senior director and manager of US commercial real estate finance syndications at Helaba. Speaking to Real Asset Media at EXPO Real 2025, Killampali was taking part in what he said was the first panel hosted in Germany by...

Heribert Gangl, head of hotels and tourism at Erste Group Bank, said Central and Eastern Europe is entering a new phase of maturity in student housing and serviced living as demand spreads from more established Western European markets. Speaking to Real Asset Media at EXPO Real 2025, he said: "There seems to be good, positive dynamics in student housing and serviced living in CEE now, spreading ov...