Key Takeaways
- • Global real estate assets under management climbed 19% to $4.5 trillion at year-end 2025, up from $3.8 trillion a year earlier, marking the first annual increase since the 2021 peak of $4.7 trillion, according to the Fund Manager Survey 2026 by ANREV, INREV and NCREIF.
- • Core allocations rose to 72% globally from 63% in 2024, while opportunistic allocations fell to 20% from 27%, signaling a clear return to lower-risk, income-producing strategies.
- • CapitaLand Investment overtook ESR to lead the Asia Pacific real estate AUM table with S$125 billion ($97 billion) in funds under management at end-March 2026, while Blackstone retained the global lead with $564 billion.
- • Global dry powder rose 4% to $211 billion, but undeployed capital fell to 6.7% of AUM from 7.5%, and capital raised increased 12% to $138 billion, still well below 2021-2022 levels above $250 billion.
Summary
Global real estate assets under management rose 19% to $4.5 trillion at the end of 2025, according to the Fund Manager Survey 2026 published by the Asian Association for Investors in Non-Listed Real Estate Vehicles (ANREV), its European counterpart INREV and Chicago-based fiduciary association NCREIF. The increase, from $3.8 trillion a year earlier, is the first annual rise since the market's 2021 peak of $4.7 trillion and follows three years of contraction. ANREV research director David Green-Morgan characterized the shift as a return to core strategies reflecting "genuine conviction in the underlying fundamentals of the asset class."
The survey showed managers moving back toward lower-risk, income-producing strategies. Core allocations rose to 72% globally from 63% in 2024, while opportunistic allocations fell to 20% from 27%. The shift was most pronounced in North America, where core rose to 87% from 80%, and in Europe, where core reached 83%, the highest level in more than five years. Asia Pacific remained more evenly balanced between core and value-add or opportunistic approaches. Growing flows into residential and living strategies, which many managers classify as core, contributed to the trend.
In Asia Pacific, CapitaLand Investment, the Temasek-controlled firm, rose to the top of the regional table, displacing ESR, which had ranked first for two consecutive years. Charter Hall and GLP Capital Partners followed. CapitaLand had S$125 billion ($97 billion) in funds under management at the end of March 2026, more than 90% of it in Asia Pacific, and maintains a 2028 target of S$200 billion. Globally, Blackstone led with $564 billion in real estate AUM, followed by Brookfield Asset Management and Prologis. MetLife Investment Management ranked fourth, UBS Asset Management returned to fifth, and PGIM Real Estate dropped to sixth. The top 10 managers held $2.2 trillion, flat year over year.
Global dry powder rose 4% to $211 billion, though undeployed capital fell to 6.7% of AUM from 7.5% a year earlier. Capital raised increased 12% in dollar terms to $138 billion in 2025, but fundraising remained well below the 2021 and 2022 levels, when annual totals exceeded $250 billion. The survey covered 106 managers reporting $4.5 trillion in AUM, based on data submitted directly to the three associations.
The survey showed managers moving back toward lower-risk, income-producing strategies. Core allocations rose to 72% globally from 63% in 2024, while opportunistic allocations fell to 20% from 27%. The shift was most pronounced in North America, where core rose to 87% from 80%, and in Europe, where core reached 83%, the highest level in more than five years. Asia Pacific remained more evenly balanced between core and value-add or opportunistic approaches. Growing flows into residential and living strategies, which many managers classify as core, contributed to the trend.
In Asia Pacific, CapitaLand Investment, the Temasek-controlled firm, rose to the top of the regional table, displacing ESR, which had ranked first for two consecutive years. Charter Hall and GLP Capital Partners followed. CapitaLand had S$125 billion ($97 billion) in funds under management at the end of March 2026, more than 90% of it in Asia Pacific, and maintains a 2028 target of S$200 billion. Globally, Blackstone led with $564 billion in real estate AUM, followed by Brookfield Asset Management and Prologis. MetLife Investment Management ranked fourth, UBS Asset Management returned to fifth, and PGIM Real Estate dropped to sixth. The top 10 managers held $2.2 trillion, flat year over year.
Global dry powder rose 4% to $211 billion, though undeployed capital fell to 6.7% of AUM from 7.5% a year earlier. Capital raised increased 12% in dollar terms to $138 billion in 2025, but fundraising remained well below the 2021 and 2022 levels, when annual totals exceeded $250 billion. The survey covered 106 managers reporting $4.5 trillion in AUM, based on data submitted directly to the three associations.
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