Research & Insights Thinking Globally About Macro Trends & Real Estate

Thought Leadership

Acton Michael Pr
Mike Acton
Head of Research & Strategy, North America

Mike Acton is a Managing Director of the firm and AEW’s Head of Research with responsibility for directing the activities of AEW Research, the firm’s in-house research group. As one of the founding members of AEW Research in 1990, Mike has over three decades of expertise as an economic analyst and forecaster. The resources offered by AEW Research are an essential component of the firm’s successful investment process. He collaborates closely with senior experts from all sectors of the firm to formulate core through opportunistic equity and debt investment strategies that align clients’ risk and reward objectives with prevailing market prospects. Additionally, he played a vital role in shaping the strategy for AEW's listed securities business, which was launched in 1995. During his career, Mike has also actively contributed to the development of various proprietary research tools, notably playing a key role in the creation of the highly regarded and widely read AEW Relative Value Index. His important contributions to the advancement of research on real estate as an institutional asset class led to his 2023 PREA Graaskamp Research Award¹, a prestigious recognition to those who contribute to the common body of knowledge and insights gained through their significant research. He holds a permanent position on the Investment, Risk Management and Compliance Committees within the organization. Prior to joining AEW, he was with DRI/McGraw-Hill where he managed the Metropolitan Area Forecasting Service. He is a graduate of Bates College (B.A.), and a CFA charterholder, as well as a member of the CFA Institute and CFA Society Boston.

CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by the CFA Institute

¹PREA members submit nominations for the award. Nominations are reviewed by former winners of the PREA Graaskamp Award, and three finalists are then voted on by the full PREA membership to determine the winner.

Hans Vrensen 2019 Resized For Website
Hans Vrensen
Head of Research & Strategy, Europe

Hans Vrensen is Managing Director and Head of Research & Strategy for AEW with responsibility for directing the firm’s research activities in Europe. Based in London, he is a member of the AEW European Investment Committee and a member of the firm’s Global Securities Allocation Committee. Hans' responsibilities include monitoring, evaluating and forecasting the macroeconomic environment, demographic trends and capital market conditions across Europe. He interprets this information for AEW’s senior professionals in order to provide decision support to the investment, asset management and portfolio management activities. Prior to joining AEW, Hans acted as an external consultant to CREFC Europe prior to that served as Global Head of Research for DTZ. He was also the Head of European Securitization Research at Barclays Capital prior to that a Senior Credit Officer at Moody’s Investor Services. Hans has a Masters in Economics from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and a Masters in Real Estate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

AEW 2019 03 050
Hanna Safdar
Head of Research & Strategy, Asia Pacific

Hanna Safdar is an Associate Director and Head of Research and Strategy for AEW's Asia Pacific Region where she supports both the direct and indirect investment teams in the region. Ms. Safdar has over ten years of real estate experience which she relies on to provide research and strategy support for all new and existing property investments. She joined AEW in 2018 from Cambridge Associates, where she conducted fund manager research and due diligence projects across Asia Pacific's real estate and infrastructure managers. Prior, she also held a research position at DTZ in Singapore. Ms. Safdar has a B.Sc Real Estate from the National University of Singapore.

AEW's research-based approach to investment decisions positions its economists to uncover and anticipate new opportunities for investors in dynamic real estate markets across the world. AEW's integrated research teams are on the ground in North America, Europe and Asia to provide a top-down view and a thorough, all-encompassing investment perspective to identify trends, often before they happen.

Our commitment to research and its practical application to decision-making is critical to the success of every investment portfolio we manage. The best research is irrelevant unless the analysis it produces is used in day-to-day decision-making. To help make this critical link, AEW has developed proprietary research tools that translate economic analyses into the kind of insight necessary to maximize investment performance.

YEAR

TYPE

REGION

Europe

2025 European Outlook

November 2024

Research Perspective

North America

U.S. Research Perspective Q3 2024

November 2024

Research Perspective

Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific Market Perspective Q3 2024

November 2024

Research Perspective

Europe

Is the Worst of the Refinancing Challenge Behind Us?

October 2024

Research Perspective

Europe

Time to Catch Up on Transition Risk Targets

September 2024

Research Perspective

Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific Market Perspective Q2 2024

September 2024

Research Perspective

North America

U.S. Research Perspective Q2 2024

September 2024

Research Perspective

North America

Seniors Housing Research Perspective Q2 2024

September 2024

Research Perspective

Europe

Private Infra Lenders Target Solid Margins At Modest Risk

July 2024

Research Perspective

Europe

Prime Time For CBD European Offices While Non-CBD Offices Trail

June 2024

Research Perspective

Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific Market Perspective Q1 2024

June 2024

Research Perspective

North America

Logistics Today

June 2024

Whitepaper

North America

U.S. Research Perspective Q1 2024

June 2024

Research Perspective

Europe

Logistics Remains Favorite As Take-Up And Values Are Projected To Recover

May 2024

Research Perspective

Europe

Mid-Year Outlook 2024: Back To The Office

April 2024

Research Perspective

Europe

European Residential: Finding A New Balance

March 2024

Research Perspective

Asia Pacific

The BoJ and Japan’s Property Markets

March 2024

Research Perspective

North America

Seniors Housing Research Perspective Q4 2023

March 2024

Research Perspective

Europe

Borrowing Costs Come Down While Refinancing Challenges Remain

February 2024

Research Perspective

Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific Market Perspective Q4 2023

February 2024

Research Perspective

Global

AEW Global Research: The Global Debt Funding Gap Webcast

February 2024

Webinar/Video

North America

U.S. Research Perspective Q4 2023

February 2024

Research Perspective

Europe

Confirmation Of Our Private Real Estate Market Rebound Forecasts

January 2024

Research Perspective

North America

Are We There Yet?

January 2024

Whitepaper

North America

Seniors Housing Research Perspective Q3 2023

December 2023

Research Perspective

Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific Market Perspective Q3 2023

November 2023

Research Perspective

Europe

2024 European Outlook: Repricing Triggers Revival

November 2023

Research Perspective

North America

U.S. Research Perspective Q3 2023

November 2023

Research Perspective

Europe

Regional Office Market Resilience In Tough Re-Balancing

October 2023

Research Perspective

Europe

Real Estate Climate Risk Premium

September 2023

Research Perspective

Europe

CRE Lending Stabilises While Debt Funding Gap Remains

August 2023

Research Perspective

North America

U.S. Research Perspective Q2 2023

August 2023

Research Perspective

Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific Market Perspective Q2 2023

August 2023

Research Perspective

Asia Pacific

Pivoting Toward Opportunities – An Asia Pacific Property Market Outlook

August 2023

Webinar/Video

North America

Seniors Housing Research Perspective Q2 2023

August 2023

Research Perspective

North America

State of the U.S. Seniors Housing Market

August 2023

Whitepaper

Europe

Repriced Logistics Gets New Lease Of Life

June 2023

Research Perspective

Europe

Prime European Shopping Centre Repricing Allows Rebound

May 2023

Research Perspective

Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific Research Perspective Q1 2023

May 2023

Research Perspective

North America

U.S. Research Perspective Q1 2023

May 2023

Research Perspective

Europe

2023 Mid-Year European Outlook: Light at the End of the Tunnel

April 2023

Research Perspective

North America

Opportunities & Risk Mitigation of Real Estate Debt Investing

April 2023

Webinar/Video

Europe

Residential Remains Defensive In A Higher Interest Rate Environment

March 2023

Research Perspective

Europe

Testing the Consensus on Prime vs Average Quality Returns

February 2023

Research Perspective

North America

U.S. Research Perspective Q4 2022

February 2023

Research Perspective

Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific Research Perspective Q4 2022

February 2023

Research Perspective

Europe

European Debt Funding Gap to Pose Significant Challenges

January 2023

Research Perspective

North America

Lower for longer, no longer.

January 2023

Whitepaper

Asia Pacific

Opportunities in Gateway Cities

December 2022

Webinar/Video

Europe

2023 European Annual Outlook: Positioning for Disruption

November 2022

Research Perspective

Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific Research Perspective Q3 2022

November 2022

Research Perspective

North America

U.S. Research Perspective Q3 2022

November 2022

Research Perspective

Europe

European Office Markets Starting to Re-Balance

October 2022

Research Perspective

Europe

European Real Estate Debt Markets Re-Align

September 2022

Research Perspective

Europe

Next Wave of Physical Climate Risk

September 2022

Research Perspective

Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific Research Perspective Q2 2022

August 2022

Research Perspective

North America

U.S. Research Perspective Q2 2022

August 2022

Research Perspective

North America

Seniors Housing Research Perspective Q2 2022

August 2022

Research Perspective

Europe

European Logistics Reaching a Turning Point

June 2022

Research Perspective

Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific Research Perspective Q1 2022

May 2022

Research Perspective

North America

U.S. Research Perspective Q1 2022

May 2022

Research Perspective

Europe

Repricings & Reopenings Trigger Shopping Centre Outperformance

May 2022

Research Perspective

Europe

European Mid-Year Outlook 2022: Dealing with Double Trouble

April 2022

Research Perspective

Global

REITs and Rising Rates - March 2022

April 2022

Whitepaper

North America

The Rise of Alternative Property Sectors

April 2022

Webinar/Video

Europe

Despite Higher Inflation, Excess Yield Spread for Residential to Remain Attractive

March 2022

Research Perspective

Global

AEW Global Core Real Estate Outlook

March 2022

Webinar/Video

North America

U.S. Research Perspective Q4 2021

February 2022

Research Perspective

Europe

Land Take Regulations to Drive Land Prices, Density & Brownfield Developments Up

February 2022

Research Perspective

Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific Research Perspective Q4 2021

February 2022

Research Perspective

Global

AEW’s 2022 Global REIT Outlook

February 2022

Webinar/Video

North America

Real Estate in a (More) Fully Funded World

February 2022

Whitepaper

Europe

Health Related Property Under the Microscope

January 2022

Research Perspective

Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific Research Perspective Q3 2021

December 2021

Whitepaper

Global

In Recovery Comes Opportunity

December 2021

Webinar/Video

North America

U.S. Research Perspective Q3 2021

December 2021

Research Perspective

Europe

2022 European Annual Outlook: Realignment

November 2021

Whitepaper

Asia Pacific

The Residential Potential

November 2021

Whitepaper

Disclosure: This material is intended for information purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation. The information and opinions contained in the material have been compiled or arrived at based upon information obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but we do not guarantee its accuracy, completeness or fairness. Opinions expressed reflect prevailing market conditions and are subject to change. Neither this material, nor any of its contents, may be used for any purpose without the consent and knowledge of AEW. There is no assurance that any prediction, projection or forecast will be realized.