As deal facilitators, brokers and consultants are at the heart of the real estate investment business. This business is local and global. Local, because on-the-ground market knowledge forms a key component of a deal’s structure; global, because there is an army of expert investors out there seeking real estate investments that meet their requirements, whether diversification, risk-adjusted returns, stable income or — ideally — a combination of the three. Editor Richard Fleming spoke recently with Borja Sierra, CEO, continental Europe, at Savills, based in London, about real estate markets across Europe; the pressures and uncertainties caused by fiscal austerity, rising unemployment and the continuing rumblings of the euro zone sovereign debt crisis; the risks inherent in