Amid the doom and gloom that is increasingly enveloping the vast majority of western Europe’s real estate markets and the liquidity crisis that has stalled transaction volumes, global pension funds have not shied away from increasing their exposure to property investments. Indeed, as leveraged deals fizzle out in a flash of onerous debt conditions, cash-rich pension funds have begun to circle, looking for attractive property prospects.

But a fundamental shift in investment strategy, a tougher market in which to actually spend available funding and a suspicion that many real estate fund managers may have performed well previously in a calm sea where the tide was always rising have combined to create a noticeable re-evaluation of how investment is placed. The trend is being led out from the United States, but in Europe, too, the gradual reawakening of investment interest in real estate deals may well be accompanied by a decrease in the number o