March sure comes around fast. But we know this is the month you have all been waiting for on tenterhooks because it signals the grand finale of the PERE Global Awards season. Our winners are ready to take center stage.

Voting closed in January and the PERE team have since busied themselves counting thousands of votes across the 47 categories included this year, plowing through countless submissions and making numerous calls to uncover what has separated the winning investors, managers and advisors from the crowd in the past 12 months.

So let us not keep you in suspense any longer. In the following pages we bring you all the winners of 2018. Stepping onto the top of the podium are familiar serial trophy collectors, alongside some first-time winners.

The grand slam champion of the private real estate market remains New York-based Blackstone. Since 2007, the firm has collected 65 PERE awards in total – head and shoulders above its nearest rival manager, Starwood Capital, which is now on a tally of 18 in the last 11 years. Nevertheless, Starwood seems to be on a mission to catch up with the industry behemoth. The firm walks off this year with an impressive five PERE awards, three more than in 2017. Blackstone takes home four awards this year, down on the seven it won in 2017.

Coming out on top in terms of most categories won is GLP. The Singapore-headquartered global logistics giant is the winner of no less than six awards, including the prestigious global firm of the year, while the firm’s co-founder Ming Mei receives the coveted global industry figure of the year. The firm also scoops up a batch of awards across the Asia categories, including firm of the year for the region and firm of the year in China. GLP’s talents outside Asia also receive recognition, as it picks up European firm of the year.

On the institutional investor side, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board was a prolific capital provider throughout 2018, including making one of its largest capital outlays in Japanese real estate to date with a $700 million investment in GLP Japan Development Partners III in November. And that is the tip of the iceberg of the firm’s activities last year. So it is hardly surprising CPPIB earns the accolade of global institutional investor of the year.

As in 2017, Europe’s categories see a number of podium handovers again. Allianz takes the award for investor of the year for the region from CIC, and Henderson Park takes home two trophies: firm of the year in France and capital raise of the year for Henderson Park Real Estate Fund I. Losing ground in Europe this year is the law firm Clifford Chance. Having won both transactions and fund formation law firm of the year in 2017, it has had to let go of those titles to rivals Paul Hastings and Greenberg Traurig, respectively. The firm’s fortunes in Asia are picking up though, winning both law firm of the year in the transactions and fund formation categories – one more than in last year’s awards.

Not everyone can be a winner all of the time. And we appreciate that some of you out there might feel a little irked that you have not come away this year with your hard work and successes formally recognized by us. But we believe our system is fair and rigorous. Here is a flavor of how we select our award winners. Nominees are selected via a lengthy process that involves poring over research collected on the most active capital providers, managers and advisors in the private real estate market. Senior team members from PERE and parent company PEI Media then consult trusted industry leaders to construct an impartial shortlist. In addition, we invited companies to submit nomination proposals to be considered for our awards shortlist – these are not a prerequisite nor a guarantee of inclusion. From then, it is down to the market to vote on its champions.

We have given you just a little taster on this page of this year’s leading lights. Read on to find out which other firms and figures shined brightly in 2018.

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