Investors

Three industry titans vie for one prestigious PERE award. Have you cast your vote? Polls close on 3 February for the third annual PERE Global Awards and competition is fierce. Will MGPA or GIC take the Asian firm of the year award. Will Niam/Goldman Sachs beat competition from AIG for European exit of the year?

David Swensen, chief investment officer of Yale’s $17bn endowment, said efforts to emulate Yale’s investment strategy would fail if other institutions use consultants and funds of funds to make investment decisions, instead of hiring a team of in-house professionals, according to a report.

Final voting has started for the third annual Global PERE Awards. Will Blackstone retain its title as global firm of the year or will MGPA, LaSalle, Carlyle or Lone Star steal its thunder. Who will clinch the title for global industry figure of the year - Jim Quille, John Gray, Michael Pralle, John Grayken or Neel Kashkari? Only you can decide.

The $35bn United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund will start investing in funds of hedge funds and private equity. It will also expand its real estate portfolio, currently valued at around $1.8bn, to include infrastructure, agricultural land and timberland.

London & Stamford, the Aim-listed property investment company founded by British market veterans Raymond Mould and Patrick Vaughan, has exchanged contracts on its first purchase since the pair floated the company more than a year ago.

More than 10,000 votes were cast for the third annual PERE Awards and here – over the next dozen pages – we present the winners and runners-up of the Asia and rest of world awards. By Robin Marriott, Jonathan Brasse and Zoe Hughes. PERE March 2009

More than 10,000 votes were cast for the third annual PERE Awards and here – over the next dozen pages – we present the winners and runners-up of the European awards. By Robin Marriott, Jonathan Brasse and Zoe Hughes. PERE March 2009

More than 10,000 votes were cast for the third annual PERE Awards and here – over the next dozen pages – we present the winners and runners-up of the North American awards. By Robin Marriott, Jonathan Brasse and Zoe Hughes. PERE March 2009

Research suggests 2001 was the optimum year for opportunity real estate funds to succeed. GPs expect 2009 and 2010 could become the next golden era. PERE Magazine December 2008/January 2009

Though some GPs argue that absolute returns matter most, an industry index allowing anyone to benchmark the performance of value-added and opportunity funds has finally arrived. PERE Magazine December 2008/January 2009