The 2010 Editorial Advisory Board of The Institutional Real Estate Letter – North America convened in mid-April to discuss the challenges and opportunities in today’s institutional real estate investment marketplace. “The money” at this year’s meeting — the institutional investor members of the board who collectively represent $78 billion in real estate assets — spoke candidly about their real estate portfolios, their outlook on market fundamentals and the industry best practices they’re trying to implement. Their comments, along with comments from the real estate managers and consultants on the board, painted a view of the current conditions of institutional investing in commercial real estate. The consensus: Investors seemed ready for the commercial real estate industry to move forward, but they are still struggling with issues they haven’t quite left behind.

Avoiding pain is among the most basic primal instincts humans possess. When we experience pain, ou