Property Asset Management with Technology

Property Asset Management with Technology

Capital Markets CIO Outlook | Friday, August 31, 2018

Fuelled by high attrition rates experienced by office occupiers and retailers vying for greater footfalls, property owners need new tools to keep up with continuous change. With an aging population and more technology-enabled younger shoppers and leisure users, traditional property asset management is transforming to capitalize on the opportunity to improve convenience for the former and the latter via enhanced experiences. Aviva Investors, with the help of technology, are looking to transform the way we approach property asset management.

Digital Garage, established in East London’s Hoxton in 2016, is a platform to nurture smart tech ideas and disruptive tech with real needs in the industry.  Concepts like Shepper, which operates almost like a property mystery shopper, sources ‘shepherds’ to carry out regular inspections across a portfolio through a social media network driven by the trusted economy.

A pilot undertaken with Founders Factory partner, Luther Systems trialing blockchain on the fixed-uplifts long-lease portfolio has shown to add simplicity, this, speeds up the process, gives tenants clearer visibility and avoids human error to improve performance for investors.

Systems thinking is another field believed to have wide-ranging applications across asset management. In a property asset management environment, this means speeding up the re-leasing process to reduce void periods. This also translates to providing seamless coordination of the delivery of units, fit-out, the speed of marketing and access, while making the most of customer relationships across portfolios.

Much of the property asset management world has yet to capitalize on the range of new technologies emerging across the sector. This technology isn’t just about delivering better results for investors, but also benefiting retailers managing large portfolios and office occupiers seeking the best space for their staff.

A direct real estate business based on a ’clusters’ approach, concentrates the portfolio on locations that have strong macroeconomic prospects combined with highly educated working populations. Business organizations look to work with occupiers to provide the best solution across the combined office, retail technology and industrial properties they occupy in critical locations such as London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Cambridge.

Smart tools that focus on speed, simplification and better customer service AI have emerged as a significant force in asset management.

Check out:  Real Estate Business Review

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