The PERE Podcast

PIMCO’s Trausch: 'Uncertainty is now structural' in real estate

Is “defense” the next major theme in private real estate? Are sector-based investment strategies outdated in the current market cycle? How can allocators and their asset managers act with conviction in an era of deglobalization, trade tension, inflation, recession risks and interest rate volatility?

In this episode, PEI real estate editor-in-chief Jonathan Brasse speaks with François Trausch, chief executive and CIO of PIMCO Prime Real Estate, to discuss these questions and more in an exclusive breakdown of the Newport Beach, California-based manager’s latest annual real estate market outlook.

Listen as Brasse and Trausch discuss real estate’s evolving place in investors’ portfolios, focusing on resiliency across property sectors, why traditional investment strategies need to be reconsidered at a time of “structural” uncertainty, and much more.

For more, read our coverage of PIMCO’s latest real estate outlook and tune into last week’s episode.

Will European defense spending provide a boost for real estate?

The fraught macroeconomic climate and its impact on property markets has been a regular topic of The PERE Podcast as investors allocate capital in a deglobalizing world. This week the spotlight is on geopolitics, as escalation in the Middle East and rising defense budgets in Europe portend significant consequences for global property markets.

On this week’s episode, host Greg Dool sits down with PEI’s real estate editor-in-chief Jonathan Brasse, PERE Deals reporter Sarah Marx and Real Estate Capital Europe deputy editor Lucy Scott for a look at how private real estate investors and managers are adapting. We also feature parts of an exclusive interview with François Trausch, chief executive of PIMCO Prime Real Estate, who shares context around the Newport Beach, California-based asset manager's latest white paper Bend, Not Break: Investing in Real Estate Amid Economic Uncertainty.

What might rising tension mean for inbound investment in the Middle East? Will increased spending on defense and infrastructure, as pledged by NATO members this week, create opportunities for fund managers? Tune in for what we are hearing this week from market participants as the situation unfolds.

Listen above and tune in next week for the full interview with Trausch.

Market weighs optimism against frustration at PERE Europe

In this episode, we break down the key takeaways from the PERE Network Europe Forum 2025. Some 200 market participants representing private real estate’s top institutional investors, asset managers, lenders and advisers came together at the two-day event in London last week to trade insights and strategies amid rapidly changing global property markets, and we have all the details.

Listen as host Lucy Scott sits with PEI’s real estate editor-in-chief Jonathan Brasse and Real Estate Capital Europe editor Daniel Cunningham to explore the conference’s biggest themes, including Europe’s position as a beneficiary of shifting capital flows, where managers are finding opportunities in market volatility and the types of strategies that are resonating most with institutional investors.

The wide-ranging conversation features mentions of the perspectives shared by conference speakers including Brookfield chief executive Bruce Flatt, Blackstone managing director David Gorleku, Patron Capital partner Henry Randolph, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan senior managing director Jenny Hammarlund and many more.

Enjoy the dispatch, and catch last week’s episode featuring Flatt’s fully unabridged keynote talk here.

Unlocking potential in Dutch residential: Global capital is key

This episode is sponsored by Bouwinvest Real Estate Investors

The Dutch residential market has remained resilient despite economic turbulence and rising interest rates and is now emerging as a prime destination for international investors.

In this episode, Paul van Stiphout of Bouwinvest Real Estate Investors and Jorrit Arissen of Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management unpack the forces driving the market’s strength – from a deep-rooted rental culture and robust occupancy levels to increasing demand for senior and student housing.

With the Netherlands facing a housing shortfall, Van Stiphout and Arissen discuss how foreign capital will be essential to bridge the gap. They also explore how demographic trends and public funding cuts are creating opportunities in niche sectors, such as senior living, which saw investment jump to €724 million in 2024.

Brookfield’s Bruce Flatt at PERE Europe Forum: Full interview

Did you miss a rare opportunity to hear Brookfield Asset Management chief executive Bruce Flatt speak on stage at the PERE Network Europe Forum 2025 this week? Fear not.

The team behind The PERE Podcast is stepping aside from our usual format to showcase the entire unabridged conversation between Flatt and PEI’s real estate editor-in-chief, Jonathan Brasse.

In this wide-ranging interview, Flatt explains how to make money in today’s real estate environment, the primary function of unlisted property in institutional portfolios, liability matching with insurance money, and harnessing retail and private wealth investors’ growing appetite for private markets. Flatt also reflects on the ups and downs of working with corporate giants like Nvidia and Microsoft as well as his view on AI advances and geopolitical volatility.

Inside the PERE 100 with BGO and APG

The latest PERE 100 and 200 rankings of private real estate’s top fundraisers, out this week, reflects a changed reality for managers in an increasingly competitive capital-formation environment.

For one thing, lengthier fundraising timelines – and ever-larger fundraising targets – contributed to an unprecedented level of year-to-year volatility throughout the list and even within the top 10. And a sustained wave of M&A activity involving managers up and down the ranking is set to continue shaking things up in the years ahead.

On this episode of The PERE Podcast, we break down the main takeaways from this year’s ranking and share excerpts of interviews with John Carrafiell, co-chief executive of third-ranked PERE 100 manager BGO, and Robert-Jan Foortse, head of European property at pension investor APG, for insight on how top managers and their institutional investor clients are operating in a shifting fundraising environment.

How Harrison Street raised $1bn for niche real estate in just four weeks

This week, PERE revealed that Chicago-based alternatives specialist Harrison Street held a first close for its 10th flagship US real estate fund, Harrison Street Real Estate Partners X, with $1 billion in commitments – after just one month on the road.

The fundraise comes as economic and geopolitical uncertainty threaten a potential real estate recovery. The speed of the first close, which brings Harrison Street a third of the way to its $3 billion hard-cap for HSREP X, is also notable when considering the average time most real estate funds spend in the market has stretched to 23 months, according to PERE’s latest fundraising report.

In this episode, Lucy Scott, Greg Dool and PERE senior reporter Harrison Connery discuss why the fund – launched in April, per SEC filings – has attracted so much attention. We also hear from David Hodes, founder and co-managing partner of advisory boutique Hodes Weill & Associates, who tells PEI Group's real estate editor-in-chief Jonathan Brasse why Harrison Street's vision for its 10th US vehicle was able to tempt institutional investors, both old and new, to back it.

As the US real estate debt market resets, private credit steps in

This episode is sponsored by LaSalle Debt Investors and Kayne Anderson

In the wake of rising rates and falling transaction volumes, US real estate debt markets are undergoing a significant transformation. Traditional lenders – especially regional banks – have stepped back, opening space for private credit providers to play a larger role.

As a looming wave of loan maturities approaches, participants are preparing for both stress and opportunity. They're deploying capital selectively, often in the form of rescue financing, while building platforms that can flex across cycles. What emerges isn’t a market in freefall or overdrive, but a reset where discipline and structure matter more than ever.

Joining us in this episode is David Selznick, chief investment officer of Kayne Anderson’s real estate group, and Craig Oram, president and fund manager at LaSalle Debt Investors. They share how their firms are adapting by focusing on refinancings, leaning into necessity-based assets like multifamily and industrial, and underwriting with more scrutiny than ever before.