The Benson Elliot approach begins with its relationship with its investors. A select group because the firm has been adamant about limiting its funding base. Yes, we’ve turned away money — to perpetuate a culture of selectivity in making investments and to be more involved in seeing through individual value-added strategies. Benson Elliot believes that speedier deployment of smaller capital pools is a sensible way to reduce erosion of transaction-level returns and, as a result, to maximise net returns to investors.

That’s not to say that Benson Elliot can’t take on larger transactions. We can and we will, in some cases with the support of our institutional partners. What we won’t do, however, is abandon our roots in the middle market — single asset or smaller portfolio transactions in the €25 million to €250 million range. We’ve got a team that is confident about its ability to spot value — and create value — one property at a time.

We enjoy what we do. We like to think outside the box and work with vendors, operating partners and others to create opportunities, not just respond to them. We don’t think our business is a zero sum game, but believe that the best transactions are those that create value for all parties. Because we tend to work with people we know (and like), we’re motivated to work hard. As importantly, because we understand our business, and our decisions are taken at the front lines, we can work quickly and discreetly.

Benson Elliot has abandoned the “one size fits all” approach to capital pricing (i.e. a single target return rate) in favour of a more sophisticated, risk-based approach. Rigid return hurdles can distort investment analysis, lead to the foregoing of attractive investment opportunities and encourage excessive risk taking. We believe our risk-based pricing approach will enable us to seek superior risk-adjusted returns for investors through cycles, by allowing the firm to adapt investment strategy and tailor risk exposure to reflect changing market conditions.

That could mean we fund development (we do). The broader point is that the Benson Elliot team have all dedicated their professional careers to the European real estate sector. They bring to the firm impressive track records and industry profiles. Most importantly, however, they bring to Benson Elliot their integrity, values and long-term relationships. Oh, and they own the firm. Here today, here tomorrow.