NAREIM’s proprietary Global Management Survey benchmarks the organizational, financial, and governance metrics of real estate investment management firms, providing over a decade of industry data and insights.
With more than 65 key data points, the Survey delivers unparalleled visibility into how firms operate, grow, and govern across multiple dimensions:
Profitability: YOY financial performance, EBITDA (pre-and post-bonus) margins, bonus pools, revenue and expense breakdowns, treatment of fund-level expenses.
Revenue: Capital raising and net and gross AUM growth year-over-year, new commitment trends, investor composition by investor type, dry powder and leverage use, acquisition & disposition volumes and revenues, development pipeline.
Expenses and Org Metrics: Headcount growth, employees per $1bn AUM and $10m of revenue by firm and strategy, employee breakdowns per function, per function and seniority. Workload metrics covering asset management (equity and debt); acquisition volume per officer (actual and forecasts). Outsourcing trends, span of controls, turnover and layoff rates, valuation policies.
Alternate Years: Fund/Account T&Cs:Â Target returns, asset management fees, acquisition & disposition fees, fee prevalence, promote/carried interest trends, promote catch-ups, GP co-investments, fund employees.
Alternate Years: Governance: Composition of executive committees, board of directors, management committees and investment committees; IC deal flow, voting and decision trends; SEC registration and audit frequency.
NAREIM members participating in the Global Management Survey can access the full report through the Ferguson Partners member portal.Â
Note, access is restricted to designated personnel of NAREIM member firms only and Executive Officers. To access a detailed Executive Summary or for questions, email Reesa Fischer, CEO.
Survey Highlights
Survey respondents have cautious yet resilient mindset of firms navigating capital constraints and operational challenges. Larger firms ($15B+ AUM) outperformed smaller peers in a tough capital raising environment, while headcount growth slowed to just 1% in 2024. Despite this, workforce turnover and layoffs remained stable.