Monthly Brief

It was a pleasure to meet and network with many of our members in person again at our annual finance summit with Bloomberg 2 weeks ago. Topics on the table ranged from the obvious macro-economic headwinds to the new EPRA LTV metric, M&A in our sector and sustainable finance.

Pere Viñolas Serra, CEO of Colonial, has been co-opted as the new EPRA Chairman, succeeding Méka Brunel, former CEO of Gecina, whose term of office expired. EPRA warmly thanks Méka for her unwavering commitment and exceptional leadership for the past two difficult years, and look forward to working with Pere on the transformation and growth of our industry.

Last week the Pan European Personal Pension (PEPP) regulation entered into force. On EPRA's front, we're introducing a new financial metric: the EPRA LTV. And we're launching registrations for the second Executive Programme, organised in partnership with INSEAD.

As we witness the dramatic situation unfolding in Ukraine, I am grateful to see EPRA members once again coming up with practical solutions and financial support for refugees. These initiatives are another reminder of what responsibility towards our communities means.

Welcome to this year’s first edition of our monthly brief, where we discuss the launch of the EPRA Developers Research Benchmarkm the OECD's landmark tax reform, two recently published research and a new type of EPRA event.

This month the world turned its attention to Glasgow and to COP26. EPRA fully supports the international drive towards addressing climate change as expressed during COP26. With buildings accounting for 40% of energy consumption and 36% of CO2 emissions in the EU, any hope of delivering the Paris Agreement goals is dependent on the real estate sector's actions to reduce this impact.

This week EPRA is holding its virtual Asia Week with 55 one-on-one and group meetings arranged between six European property companies and Asian investors. Our event calendar is busy for the rest of the year with many events on ESG and in the investor outreach domain. Our annual request for research proposals is open until November 19.

We kick-started the academic year with our five-days Conference, held once again in a virtual format. During the research session at the event, we presented an update to the Covid-19 impact study prepared by Oxford Economics. The EPRA Conference was also an occasion to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Sustainability Best Practices Recommendations and the unveiling of the Awards results. With ESG one of the leitmotivs of the Conference and increasingly our day-to-day business, we invite to discover our latest materials dedicated to the EU Taxonomy and to green bonds

While all European markets continue to recover, EPRA analyses the performance, key trends and figures of the listed sector in the Total Markets Table and in the European Real Estate Barometer, published in partnership with Euronext. We also invite you to have a look at the recently launched EPRA BPR Dataset as well as to make use of the revamped company reporting calendar.

Presenting an ongoing, recently launched initiative, the EPRA Mentoring Programme. Addressed to women working in property companies or real estate investment, the programme is a unique chance to support the listed real estate’s talent pipeline. You can find more information about becoming a mentor or a mentee in the core of this brief.

"I was very pleased to see the promising footfall figures and sales results from stores and malls reopening across Europe, which will help leveraging the optimism in the markets. And as investors settle into a more risk-on approach following the opening-up of the economy, we are observing increased interest for the European listed real estate sector [...]". Read more from Dominique Moerenhout, EPRA CEO.

In the April brief we look at the programme of the upcoming EPRA Conference, scheduled virtually 20-24 September, with the main day taking place in a hybrid format in Brussels, in the modern Docks Dome venue. We also discuss the recenlty adopted EU Taxonomy, as well as the Commission's plans for business taxation for the 21st century and the role of the built environment at COP26.

The pandemic brought our sector many challenges but also many opportunities for defining new growth strategies, repositioning business portfolios, digital transformation… It is with this in mind that EPRA and INSEAD have joined forces to develop a unique Executive Programme for listed real estate practitioners: “Strategy for Listed Real Estate – What Good Looks Like”.

We are now in full year-end reporting season, and it is very encouraging to see so many of EPRA members showing resilience and confidence for the future. It is also the first time that companies with December as fiscal year-end are officially adopting the new EPRA Net Asset Value metrics.

At the start of the year, our flagship Insight events once again attracted over 650 professionals from the listed real estate sector in London, Brussels, Paris and for the first time Germany, to discuss the market outlook for 2021 with industry leaders. This and much more is discussed in the first brief of 2021.

Earlier this month, in collaboration with PwC, EPRA released it first-ever study on Total Tax Contribution (TTC) of REITs in Europe. Thanks to the participation of 48 European REITs from 11 countries, this report provides an overview of the tax effort and contribution of REITs to the European public finance.

Our annual request for research proposal 2021 is now open, we encourage you to apply by November 20. The EPRA Event calendar is busy for the rest of year, discover our full year-end programme in this monthly brief and don't miss to register to the upcoming events in November!

With no less than 600 attendees over this five-day event, our recently first virtual EPRA Conference was marked by the EPRA chairmanship handover to Méka Brunel, Gecina CEO. EPRA also opened registrations for the Virtual Corporate Access Winder 2020 edition.

Euronext and EPRA have joined forces to publish the first Real Estate Barometer. This study highlights the key trends and figures of the European listed real estate sector and provides key analytics on its recent developments to the investors’ community. Read more about EPRA's Global Real Estate Total Markets Table with updated Q2 2020 figures, highlighting that all European markets displayed recoveries over that period.

Oxford Economics and EPRA have recently published the report "Impact of the COVID-19 crisis on European Listed Real Estate". This study gives an overview of the strength and resilience the sector has demonstrated. EPRA has also opened registrations for its first Annual Virtual Conference 2020 edition!

The May edition of the brief discusses IASB's project to assess the impact of Covid-19 related rent concessions, the importance of mutual recognition of REITs under the Capital Markets Union as well as the real estate industry's joint position on the Covid-19 crisis. We also share more information regarding the new format of the EPRA Conference 2020 edition!

European listed property companies are stepping up in time of crisis and continue supporting communities in their fight against COVID-19 since the beginning of the outbreak. Read more about the various initiatives that are being put in place by EPRA members at local or national level to help those in need.

Our daily lives are dramatically disrupted by the exponential spread of COVID-19. All sectors and countries are affected. But although we all need to adapt to these difficult times, some sectors have a bigger responsibility to step up. This is the case for European listed real estate, which serves businesses and societies alike.

On February 14, we celebrated 15 years of partnership with FTSE Russell and Nareit at the London Stock Exchange. When we first launched the Index in 2005 there were 307 companies in the FTSE EPRA Nareit Global Index representing a market cap of EUR 546 billion, which has now grown to 477 constituents globally, representing a total market cap of EUR 1.68 trillion. This clearly demonstrates investors’ appetite for this liquid and diversified asset class.

In the coming month EPRA will launch an education programme in partnership with INSEAD, to help young real estate professionals further enhance their strategic skills applied to the listed real estate sector. In the meantime, we look at the recently published academic research papers, at our members' perception of their Association, and the Solvency II 2020 review.

Earlier this month, EPRA released an important update to the Best Practices Recommendations Guidelines, which introduced the new NAV metrics and reviewed the CAPEX metric. The changes reflect the evolution of our industry and give more granularity to investors.

This month EPRA’s public affairs department participated in meetings with MEPs from the economic, industry and internal market committees and discussed their priorities for 2019-2024, during the recent plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Our recently held Conference in Madrid, where we celebrated EPRA’s 20th anniversary and hosted the Association’s founding fathers with a record of 475 attendees, had a number of highlights. After a busy beginning of September, we are now looking forward to our Autumn programme.

All the latest news from the European listed real estate sector in our July Monthly Brief.

Solvency II changes mark significant progress for listed real estate; new reports related to the EU strategy on sustainable finance; launch of the EPRA Diversity & Inclusion Award; KPMG's survey on digital transformation and innovation in real estate.

EPRA Chairman visits the Brussels office; EPRA sustainability committee meets in Marseille to prepare the 2019 sBPR assessment; new Total Markets Table interactive infographic launched; a wrap up of European investor outreach.

In light of the upcoming EU elections, EPRA prepared a manifesto with a set of recommendations for the policymakers to address Europe’s challenges. We also look at a recent major breakthrough for BE-REITs, which are now allowed to flexibly issue equity through ABB. Finally, we wrap up the Bloomberg and EPRA Real Estate Summit 2019 and take a closer look at the our upcoming Corporate Access event and the EPRA Conference in Madrid.

Earlier this month, we received some encouraging news on the Solvency II regulations. Read about this move more in detail, discover the newly launched sustainability library and register to our webinar on trends and coming changes in Emerging markets.

Pan-European Pension Product agreement; feedback to the European Commission on climate change mitigation; disruption in the Emerging market and highlights from the Global Real Estate Total Markets Table at the end of the fourth quarter of 2018.

In our first brief of 2019 read about EPRA's plans for this year and make sure to mark your agendas with some exciting events we have lined up for you!

In our last monthly brief of 2018, read all about the highlights of our Sustainability Workshop and find out what research piqued investors' interest during our Investor Outreach tour in the U.S. You will also find the latest scope on our first large-scale Corporate Access & Market Insights Day

Read all about the European stakeholder meeting on non-financial disclosure and discover the up-coming activities we have in store for you, including our ESG workshop on November 23 and the corporate access event on December 12.

The past couple of months have been packed with activity as we have published a number of important reports on the sector, hosted Nareit for a joint pan-European outreach programme and hosted the EPRA Conference in Berlin, which proved to be record-breaking in every sense.

This month on the agenda: 10th EPRA Asia Week, first Frankfurt-based event of the year, Iberian Real Estate Summit in London, ERES Conference, IASB meeting, REIT regime event in Budapest, annual European Pensions Awards and much more!

Read all about REIT regime developments in Central and Eastern Europe and in China in the May edition of our Monthly Brief, and find out how EPRA is implementing the EU General Data Protection Regulation, which recently entered into force.

We wrap up the Reporting & Accounting Workshop, look at EPRA's and GRESB's first comparative Gap analysis as well as discuss the recently published research paper on the impact of emerging technologies on European listed real estate. Finally, the countdown to the 2018 Conference has officially begun, with the launch of applications for the Outstanding Contribution to Society Award!

As the Developed Europe Index is growing with new inclusions in Q1 2018, we look back at the Spanish REIT success story and the many meetings we held at MIPIM and other various events to update investors on our sector.

The team is busy with the Q1 index review and the coordination of our various events, which will take place throughout the year. We are working in partnership with the Iberian Property on the inaugural Iberian REIT summit as well as the first in a series of diversity breakfasts.

Following another successful Asia Week and our already traditional Insight events in London and Amsterdam, our investor efforts are gearing up with the Nomura Global Real Estate Forum and the German real estate investors’ conference, as well as further meetings with specialist and generalist investors.

As we are nearing the end of the year, we look back at the various events held in November, from the MiFID II seminar, to the Sustainability Workshop and look to build on the recent successes.

Working for our members is at the forefront of EPRA’s mission, and we welcome every opportunity to further promote with our members the European listed real estate sector. Read more about EPRA activities.

As announced over the summer, we gave EPRA a new look and feel – from the logo to a more user-friendly website, which we launched at the EPRA Conference in London.

We are entering the final stretch before the EPRA Conference at the beginning of September and works are underway to ensure a great experience for all our members

As temperatures have reached near record highs in Brussels, investor outreach has been our hot topic this month

It has been a busy month again, with several committee meetings, Investor outreach trips across Europe and Asia, meetings with MEP’s and EU officials as well the quarterly FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Index review now just days away, the annual BPR and sBPR surveys have kicked off

We had some very positive feedback from the attendees of the recently held Reporting & Accounting Summit, while EPRA members’ commitment to sustainability was on show in Berlin this week

Dominique Moerenhout takes over the leadership of EPRA with this first Monthly Brief introduction

Philip Charls is stepping down as EPRA CEO and looks back at some of our successes

EPRA kicked-off 2017 with a very busy schedule

In the aftermath of the U.S. presidential election we look back at 2016 and lay down EPRA's priorities for 2017

Very busy month for EPRA, with a full week of meetings with senior government officials, institutional investors and property companies in Asia. Back in Europe, we were pleased to hear that a draft Polish REIT legislation has been published

The summer holiday period was busy at EPRA, as we were preparing for this year’s Annual Conference

The metaphor of a political earthquake is much over-used these days but it does indicate the uncertainty of the consequences we are facing after the Brexit vote

For the past three years EPRA has been actively advocating for an improved REIT regime in Italy, which would give investors access to the listed market of the fourth largest economy in Europe by GDP