FRANCAIS Summary
of the report |
GENEVA 11 - 12 DECEMBER 2008 |
The forum was presented by Nicole Paquin Desbiolles, President of WAPIC, and Edouard
P. Flaherty, secretary of the association, who made a very objective survey on
the US situation and the world contagion which it created. SOVEREIGN
FUNDS AND REAL-ESTATE CAPITAL: THE
INTERNATIONAL MARKET CONCERNS On
the background of banking pandemic, the real-estate capital was the major subject
of this forum with in particular the conference made by Philippe Tannenbaum Director
of Investment Banking Research at Eurohypo, Londn at the time of this conference. Philippe
Tannenbaum intervened on the sovereign capital and the new contributors of liquidities.
This
intervention was able to give a tendency very updated by the position of the sovereign
capital in front of the enormous potential which will be established by the effects
of the crisis on markets and on rise of the profitability because of a drastic
decline of the values and the rates. When
in the question to know when the market will be at the lowest, the answer is not
given yet. However, Qatari Diar real estate investment company is already active
in London on an project concluded at the end of 2007 of several thousand square
meters, what can let suppose that additional interest for Europe could follow
in 2009 by sovereign funds. Jean-François
Bay, President of Seeds-Finance, consultancy firm in institutional investors,
based in Paris, drew a panorama of the French market insisting on the fact that
it is necessary to preserve a wait-and-see attitude, the explosion of the bubble
not being still at the lowest. Jean-Bernard
Wurm, Managing Director of LandAmerica Europe, whose European head office is based
in Geneva, insisted on the very current utility of the American concept of Title
Insurance, the unique service in Europe having for object to cover the uninsured
risks by the insurers operating traditionally on real estate investments. To
conclude a very detailed presentation of this still new tool for certain European
operators, Jean-Bernard Wurm insisted on the fact that the company had just known
its best exercise during the last quarter since its creation in Europe in 2005
René
Savineau, director of hotel development at Bouygues International, raised a very
complete picture of the hotel market of 3 to 5 stars from Paris to Dubaï
by way of several international places where the group built. René
Savineau foresees a restarting of the market of the hotel construction in 2010
- 2013 and
stressed on the necessity of restructuring the system of financing and management
as well as on the choice of concepts there better adapted to the market and to
the new shape of world economy. An
interruption of several projects in particular in Russia, in Dubaï, and in
several emerging countries is noticed this day because of the crisis of the credit. Macy
Marvel, professor of economy to the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne, Switzerland,
raised a specific picture on emerging countries BRIC. He insisted on the need
to plan a new academic forms in the teaching of the hotel management and economics
in this industry. Thierry
Bievre, Chief executive officer de Elithis, company of real-estate development
presented the tower has positive energy built in Dijon France, the creator and
the investor of which he is. The specificity of the building is to produce more
of energy that it consumes. This
technology which joins in a sustainable development policy is called to develop
quickly and seems to be a real commercial asset compared to the sales in 90 %
completed in future state of completion. SWITZERLAND
REMAINS A SPECIFIC MARKET The
Swiss real-estate market was presented by Etienne Nagy, General Manager of Naef
SA, agency of reference to Geneva and in Swiss Romande, stating a market relatively
less bear than on the other European places. There is nevertheless a fall in demand
in particular on the commercial market. There
is still no significant fall of the values, no Swiss financial center having been
less exposed than the others on international real-estate. However, it is too
much early to draw conclusions of this crisis.
The legal aspect and its specificities for the foreign investors was raised by
Yves Jeanrenaud, lawyer specialist of the real-estate, partner of Schellenberg
Wittmers in Geneva. Yves Jeanrenaud raised a very informative picture of all the
useful parameters by canton, the Switzerland includes 28 independent districts
named canton, and diverse possibilities of real-estate acquisition in each ones.
It is necessary to know that the investment made by foreigners in Switzerland
always contains certain of number of very particular constraints in the Helvetian
law. Jean-Charles
Brandt, CEO of Capitalis SA in Zürich with offices in Geneva and Singapore,,
presented the opportunities offered by the Swiss real-estate capital. This capital
is rather reassuring for a period of loss of international confidence face to
face financial tools. Their
management and their profitability is based on the average and long term and on
the assets without major risks, what makes it investments which should join easily
the portfolios of management, especially in times of crisis major as the one who
destabilizes at present the world finance market. | 
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