On today’s episode, I sit down with Bert van den Hoek, Senior Portfolio Manager of North America for Bouwinvest Real Estate Investors, whose New York office he opened in 2020. Bouwinvest specializes in managing real estate portfolios for institutional investors and currently manages €15.1 billion in assets across Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific.

During our conversation, Bert and I discussed:

• Why life sciences and data centers were some of the first investments Bouwinvest North America made
• Why real estate is still a relationship business
• How Bouwinvest hopes to influence other U.S. managers to move towards a more sustainable investing model that balances societal and financial returns.

Links:

Bouwinvest

Juniper Square

Brandon on LinkedIn

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Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:02:08) - Bert’s background and career

(00:09:30) - Bert’s investment philosophy

(00:12:20) - The scale of Bouwinvest

(00:17:00) - Approaching programmatic JVs

(00:18:29) - Profiling a manager to invest with

(00:20:59) - What investment strategies are you focused on today?

(00:23:18) - Investments in Europe, Asia and Australia

(00:26:50) - How did you develop your investment thesis?

(00:29:19) - Do you use consultants in your work?

(00:30:58) - Bert’s acquisition process

(00:33:32) - How to find great managers

(00:35:39) - Expectations of managers

(00:45:24) - What are your predictions for the market over the next 24 months?

(00:49:38) - What advice would you have for investors and managers?

(00:51:48) - How can people contact you?