Sisterly advice

If you add together the assets that are currently under the management of CBRE Global Investors (CBRE GI), LaSalle Investment Management and Savills Investment Management, you will end up with the dizzying sum of USD 150 bln. More than half of this amount (USD 86 bln) is generated by CBRE GI’s portfolio, only slightly smaller than the world’s largest real estate fund manager, Blackstone, which currently holds USD 93 bln worth of assets. Conflict of interest However, unlike Blackstone, all three have emerged from companies specialised exclusively in the real estate market. They operate as wholly sovereign entities and look after their own businesses. They only retain limited relationships with their sister advisory companies. “Investment managers that operate under the brand of popular property agents are independent companies and the only thing they share with the agencies is their name. They operate as part of the same capital group, but they