Paul Greven, Canadian chief counsel for international real estate property consultancy firm JLL, says the movement abroad by pension funds, insurance companies and other investors is driven by the opportunities. “The primary reason for that is yields right now for real estate; the core assets are at historic lows. . . . The pension funds, the Brookfields, the Oxford Properties, Ivanhoé Cambridge, Canadian Pension — CPPIB, are starting to look abroad,” he says. “In essential business districts with the big class A buildings, they can get better returns going abroad and that’s why you’re seeing a lot more investment or joint ventures or hookups in the [United] States as well as Europe and Asia, too.”
