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Peter Hobbs
Head of Real Estate Research
Peter Hobbs is Head of Real Estate Research with a particular focus on IPD services. In this role, Peter oversees real estate research activities, covering existing and new services, research-related relationships with key clients, and interactions with research-groups in the broader MSCI business. Peter joined MSCI in 2013, following the acquisition of IPD and has 25 years of research and consultancy experience, helping develop investment strategies across global real estate markets. Peter holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Reading. He is a frequent speaker at industry events, and is a European Council member of ULI, a past Chair of INREV’s Research Committee and a member of the RICS.
Research and Insights
Articles by Peter Hobbs
Global Real Estate: The Conundrum of High Prices and Wide Yields Spreads
Blog | Jul 15, 2015 | Peter HobbsHistorically, the majority of global real estate returns have come from income, which has made up more than 80% of the total return over the past decade. In 2014, however, growth in asset values represented 43% of the total return — more than double its long-term average contribution.
Multi-National Real Estate Income Risk Analysis
Research Report | Jun 25, 2015 | Peter Hobbs, Glen CorneyIncome is the principal foundation of real estate investment returns. For most markets and over the longer term, the vast majority of the real estate return comes through income rather than appreciation. The income generating nature of real estate has become even more relevant in an era of ultra-low interest rates, and in the context of the search for yield. Given the importance of income to investors, increasing attention is being placed on the monitoring of real estate cashflows in order to...
Is Real Estate Bond-Like?
Research Report | Jun 16, 2015 | Yang Liu, Peter Hobbs, Peter ShepardGrowth Drives Long-run Risk and Return
Sectoral Aspects of Global Infrastructure Investment
Research Report | Jun 15, 2015 | Peter Hobbs, Stuart Doole, Anthony Francesco, Brent Mcelreath, Abhinav SharmaAs the MSCI Global Quarterly Infrastructure Asset Index grows in breadth and depth it provides increasing insights into the performance of the Infrastructure Asset Class, globally. In this Research paper, we focus on two broad areas related to sector-specific nuances of the asset class. First, the differential performance and volatility of the Transport and Power sectors, the two dominant streams of activity in the index. Second, a comparison of unlisted and listed infrastructure,...
The Erosion of the Real Estate Home Bias
Blog | May 5, 2015 | Peter HobbsAs an asset class, real estate typically has a high degree of home bias, especially when compared to equities and fixed income. However, this home bias is starting to erode, with asset owners in most countries already investing internationally or actively exploring options for building off-shore exposures.
Global Property Delivers Strong Returns in 2014
Blog | Apr 15, 2015 | Peter HobbsGlobal property has delivered another stellar year of performance of 9.9%, the fifth consecutive year of strong returns since the financial crisis, and the best performance since 2007. A series of countries performed particularly well over the past year, most notably Ireland with a record return of 40%, but also the U.K. (17.9%) and U.S. (11.5%).
Real Estate: Allocations and Integrating Risk
Blog | Mar 23, 2015 | Peter HobbsThe classic 60:40 mix of stocks and bonds has shifted to a 40:40:20 mix of stocks, bonds and alternatives, according to the 2014 MSCI Asset Owner survey.
The Erosion of The Real Estate Home Bias - November 2014
Research Report | Nov 19, 2014 | Yang Liu, Peter Hobbs, Peter Shepard, Jean-martin AussantThe home bias of real estate investing is starting to change. The world’s largest Sovereign Wealth and Pension Funds are leading the change with explicit global real estate investment mandates seeking to exploit the richer global opportunity set and its diversification benefits. In this Research Insight, we use the Barra Private Real Estate Model (PRE2) to examine the drivers of risk and return in the international real estate markets, and find that fragmentation of the global markets has led...
Research Insight - Findings of the 2013 Global Asset Owner Survey - February 2014
Research Report | Feb 11, 2014 | Peter Hobbs, Bert Teuben, Neil Gilfedder, Zita MarossyThis Research Insight presents the results of the 2013 MSCI Global Asset Owner Survey, which focuses on understanding the asset allocation processes of institutional asset owners, with a close examination of risk management of the real estate exposure. The findings come from in-person interviews with staff at 40 asset owners from around the world, representing $3.2 trillion in assets, as well as online survey responses from another 40 asset owners, representing $0.7 trillion in assets. These...