In the last decade or so, core real estate investment lived a golden era. Low interest rates and cheap financing meant managers could buy assets in the core segment and secure an attractive return from rent collection. But with the emergence of a new macro regime many of those macro tailwinds have become headwinds. Going forward, double-digit IRR returns in real estate will increasingly depend on a hands-on approach to thematic sourcing and asset transformation. In this Q&A, Mike Bryant, Head of Private Real Estate at Partners Group, explains how investors are turning their attention to the ‘value-add’ segment of real estate. Through value-add strategies, we have the capacity to transform assets with a hands-on approach to meet evolving ESG requirements as well as the preferences of tenants in the corporate and consumer segments.