As economies in the United States and large parts of Europe brace for continued slowdowns and as uncertainty persists over the severity and duration of problems in the debt markets, the international real estate industry is in a sombre mood. Ultimately, real estate is a debt-based business, and when lenders curtail their participation, by choice or necessity, the impact is widely felt.

Yet the subprime fallout is but one factor (albeit a large one) in the industry today. Counterbalancing the crisis is the growing importance of global real estate investment, capital sourcing and development, which is having its effect on the industry as well. In large part, executives in real estate investment are rightfully forward looking.

Not surprisingly in this environment, executive compensation [compensation is the U.S. term for total remuneration, i.e., pay and benefits, and is used throughout this article — Ed.] and hiring trends in real