A Global Real Estate Securities Fund – focused on the Residential sector : An assessment based on fund managers' expertise

Sammanfattning: An investment vehicle that holds listed real estate securities that focus on residential properties globally, is currently not available. The study’s purpose is to determine the feasibility of such a product, its potential advantages and disadvantages. This thesis applied a qualitative research method by conducting semi-structured interviews with professional fund managers in Sweden and Germany that manage real estate funds. The literature review and theory consist of fundamentals and academics in real estate investing, investment vehicles, portfolio theory and lastly investor types and their behaviour. The authors conclude that the majority of experts interviewed considered the proposed vehicle as interesting but lifted concerns that need to be addressed in further research. The political risk, especially on a global scale, was stated as the major risk. Furthermore, experts have divided opinions regarding the maturity for listed real estate companies on the financial markets. What type of investment vehicle that would be the most suitable will depend on investment tactic, investors and the current status of the global economy and the financial markets. The overall investigations result is that experts view the proposed idea as positive and feasible. It poses a good foundation for further research and might find its place in the sphere of real estate investments.