Building resilience: How real estate investors are navigating volatility

Tomáš Jandík set the tone for the discussion, emphasising the importance of risk management. "Investing in assets is one thing, but managing portfolios is another," he noted. "Portfolios can behave quite differently from single assets, and the best risk management ultimately comes down to how you select your investment management strategy."

Martin Baláž from Prologis highlighted the importance of location and active asset management in creating resilient portfolios. "If you own assets of 100 billion dollars, every single percentage of value upside makes a huge difference in your valuation," he explained. Baláž also stressed the critical role of data collection and AI, revealing that his company spent the last five years meticulously collecting data to enable effective AI-driven asset management.

Josef Eim from Českomoravská Nemovitostní provided insights into the Czech market's stability, attributing resilience to conservative financing practices. "We never really went to high loan-to-value ratios like in other markets," he said. "When the market shifts, Prague's prime yields only went up from four and a half to five and a half percent, which was fully offset by inflation, whereas in Germany, the devaluation was much more significant."

Katarina Horvathova from Manova Partners emphasised geographical and sector diversification as key resilience strategies. "Western European capital has been careful about investing in Central Europe, but they are attracted by attractive yields and leverage effects," she noted. Horvathova highlighted Poland and the Czech Republic as particularly promising markets, with potential in sectors like logistics, offices, and emerging opportunities in residential and hotel investments.