Specialist property LPs and GPs investing in Europe face new dangers from the wave of multi-asset class managers targeting the region, says Forum CEO Russell Platt.

North America’s increase in shale productivity is driving demand for real estate in key U.S. markets, providing private equity with another opportunity to invest in energy

The only way to play a recovering real estate market is “slowly, carefully, one asset at a time,” according to BlackRock global head of real estate Jack Chandler.

Capital preservation is key for UPS’s real estate head Greg Spick. As a result, value-added and opportunistic funds are out in favor of debt, JVs and more deal control.

Experts from W. P. Carey, AXA Real Estate and Real Capital Analytics discuss Europe’s core and peripheral markets, new Asian investors on the scene and the likelihood of increasing bank dispositions.

Higher going-in cap rate markets do not pay, argues TIAA-CREF’s Martha Peyton. Lower yielding markets deliver higher total returns over longer-term, she explains.

Experts from W. P. Carey, AXA Real Estate and Real Capital Analytics discuss the U. S. market, rental growth assumptions in 2014 and insights into whether cap rates will expand, or continue to compress.

Experts from Yardi, CBRE and Taurus discuss NOI growth in 2014, being paid a premium for vacancy and the challenge of tenant renewals for older properties.

W. P. Carey’s appetite for secondary transactions looks set to grow, says Kathleen Barthmaier, describing the firm’s $23m Avnet deal in Phoenix, Arizona.

Our panel of experts from W. P. Carey, AXA Real Estate and Real Capital Analytics explore the markets ripe for sales, growing appetite for portfolio sales and opportunities for spread investors.

Class A offices, liquidity and lease terms in Warsaw. W. P. Carey’s Jeffrey Lefleur describes the firm’s latest acquisition in Poland.

Jerry Gates of Hamilton Lane says that RE investors need to keep expectations for returns in check in the current market, and not use outdated benchmarks.

Demographic trends are supporting growth in “alternative” commercial property markets, like student housing, medical offices and seniors’ accommodation, says Harrison Street Real Estate Capital’s Chris Merrill.

Office developers and investors are facing serious challenges, as technology reduces space needs. But there is hope for a recovery in some market segments, as space left vacant in the recession is absorbed, says Praedium Group’s Russ Appel.

Office will be real estate food group winner over next five years, industrial will outperform next two years, according to Todd Henderson, Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management.

Real Capital Analytics’ Bob White on investors’ growing appetite for secondary assets and the emerging rebound in unloved markets and asset classes.

Sonny Kalsi of GreenOak Real Estate on his firm’s purchase of 285 Madison, still reminiscent of the Mad Men-era.

Steven LeBlanc has backed some of the largest managers in private equity and real estate, yet he argues the best performing funds are often the smallest.