Asset managers are the unsung heroes of successful real estate investing and they need a seat at the deal table for every acquisition, argues TIAA-CREF’s chief of asset management, John Cornuke.

Jack Foster, the man who created Franklin Templeton’s real assets multimanager business and REITs platform and is departing the firm this month, says it’s getting “harder and harder” for fund-of-funds shops to succeed.

Brick and mortar retail may be under attack from online rivals but for Laurus Corporation there’s still plenty of upside in mall investing, not least in Los Angeles’ Playa Vista neighborhood.

By adopting a data-driven property manager scorecard approach, firms such as TIAA-CREF are generating extra total returns for their assets.

Shipping containers could prove to be the new niche real estate sector, as startups in the U.S. and other countries show the potential of using the steel box as hotel rooms, as well as for affordable and student housing.

ASB Real Estate’s managing director Jim Darcey talks about the role of asset managers today, and how changing tenant needs—and rising tenant improvement costs—are putting greater pressure on firms.

Kirkland & Ellis’ Stephen Tomlinson discusses the influx of foreign capital into U.S. real estate, how foreign investor appetite is different, and the impact of growing co-investment rights on GPs.

A rise in closings of commingled funds and an increase in non-U.S. investors in U.S. real estate are among the trends in private equity RE, says Matthew Giles, a partner in business law at Goodwin Procter.

Loss of control and organizational inertia are some of the obstacles to corporations unlocking the value in their real estate, says a panel of experts from W. P. Carey, KKR and MB Real Estate.