How to achieve reasonable returns through investments with regular distributions will remain one of the main concerns of institutional investors in German-speaking countries for the foreseeable future. Real assets are sought in times of high inflation.

“Against this background, demand for real assets continued to rise in the first half of the year,” notes Dr. Robert Hengster, managing director of HLK, is the independent underwriting agent for institutional investors in German-speaking countries.

Real estate investments continued to be particularly popular
This applies primarily to residential and logistic types of use. “In the search for attractive returns, however, franchises must be offered here, either in terms of exact location or region or by shifting to further international markets. This means that the regional spread of real estate investments is increasing, says Hengster. Infrastructure, especially in various areas of renewable energies, is in high demand from investors, despite regulatory requirements and partial exhaustion of the share.

private debt
The combination of an attractive risk-return profile, predictable fund inflows, and low correlation with other asset classes in a perpetually low interest environment has increased the demand for private debt as an asset class among institutional investors. “One of the great advantages of private debt is that a variety of methods can be assigned and then allotted to different shares,” Hengster explains.

The relationship between financial and non-financial performance is critical
The fight against climate change is becoming a big trend. “ESG is now playing a major role in the questions being asked by institutional investors in this country, while a certain degree of skepticism was observed last year. No investment decision can be made without taking into account non-financial criteria,” says Hengster.

On the other hand, influencer investing is a niche topic and will likely remain so
“Because at the end of the day, institutional investors also have to generate adequate returns,” Hengster says. According to HLK, global efforts of governments, businesses and consumers will promote sustainable investmentsPush signals forward across all asset classes and investment topics. (kilobytes)