Going global in the past meant mostly one thing — intrepid U.S. and European firms going to foreign, often exotic markets to invest with a goal of diversifying risk and participating in the “growth story.” In the past decade, pension funds, foundations and endowments considerably increased their allocations to foreign markets, and investing in Brazil, China, India and Russia has stopped being exotic. With equity and debt once readily available, numerous funds have been created and invested in all sectors of real estate markets in most Asian and other emerging economies.

Investing in real estate by institutional investors has become truly global. However, as the financial crisis struck, investors suffered losses and new capital became scarce, many investors went back home to regroup and figure out what went wrong. The flow of capital from the United States and Europe to Asian markets has considerably decreased.

In marketing materials for one of our conferences, we