Tech, trees and tailwinds

With society facing many urgent and complex challenges, deciding who is best-placed to deliver solutions has become an emotive and often political subject. We assess whether there is a better way to utilise the skills and resources of the public, private and third sectors for the greater good.

Hardly a day goes by without at least one negative headline bemoaning the impact of disruption in retail markets on high streets and shopping centres. While this is true in the US and the UK, Chris Urwin examines whether European high streets will face a similar threat.

While the shape of the UK’s future relationship with its European neighbours is still unclear, the question of how to finance infrastructure fit for the 21st century is equally pressing, argues Darryl Murphy.

Assessing ESG risks within real asset investments is far from straightforward. Mark Versey and Stanley Kwong use five case studies to illustrate the balance of ESG risk factors that affects investment decision-making, beyond simply trying to be ‘green’.

Jonathan Bayfield and Vivienne Bolla discuss the outlook for UK and European real estate.

The role of a city is vastly different to fifty years ago. We explain why talent, clusters and scale are key factors in determining which cities – and therefore European office markets – will thrive in the years ahead.

Physical assets, particularly infrastructure and real estate, have a critical role to play in facilitating the transition towards a more sustainable economy and a greener world. As ultimate asset owners, investors are deeply engaged in the issues, and incorporating environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations is a fundamental part of an asset manager’s duty to their clients.

In this piece Jonathan Bayfield outlines why we are positive on the outlook for London retail and how we can identify the London sub-markets with the best medium-term investment prospects.

In our regular update on real assets we assess real estate positioning in the late stages of the cycle, check interest in real assets in a period of Brexit-related uncertainty and illustrate the spreads achievable across private assets of varying credit quality.

New technologies, including electric and autonomous vehicles, big data, blockchain and artificial intelligence, will have significant consequences for the transport sector and beyond.

The cyclicality of real estate creates opportunities for well-informed investors. However, determining where a market is in the cycle can be difficult, so we have developed a tool that can help investors overcome this challenge.

Cities will face severe challenges over the coming decades, including digital disruption, population management and climate change. How they adapt to these pressures will determine the winning – and losing – cities of the future.