Research & Best practices
NAREIM™ (the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers™) is proud to partner with leading organizations and CRE associations to produce benchmarking research into compensation, organizational and management metrics as well as best practices for real estate investment managers.
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Each year, NAREIM produces four benchmarking surveys, including:
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Real estate investment management’s only industry-specific Compensation Survey, covering base, bonus, LTIs, promote/carry, co-investment and benefits
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A global management and organizational design benchmark, the Global Management Survey
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The only corporate DEI Survey for the entire CRE industry, tracking DEI strategies and employee demographics
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A Defined Contribution capital raising, structuring, liquidity and organizational design benchmarking survey.
NAREIM™ (the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers™) benchmarking research is not for sale. Research is available to participating NAREIM members only.
To learn more about the research reports and how to become a NAREIM member, contact Zoe Hughes or click here for more information on member benefits.
Next issue released: Sept 2025
Compensation Survey
Proprietary research providing compensation of real estate investment managers. The report covers more than 400 pages of individual position compensation reports, including, but not limited to, functions within:
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Positions reported on include: Executive management, accounting (corporate, portfolio/fund, property), asset management, capital markets, corporate marketing and communications, due diligence, engineering, environmental, finance, human resources, investor relations, capital raising, leasing, legal and compliance, portfolio management, property management, risk management, technology, transactions, valuations, debt and REIT securities.
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The Compensation Survey is produced in association with Ferguson Partners. NAREIM members can access the executive summary here.
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Next issue released: Sept 2025
DEFINED CONTRIBUTION
In collaboration with the Defined Contribution Real Estate Council (DCREC), NCREIF and PREA, the Defined Contribution Survey focuses on defined contribution capital raising, organizational and best practice benchmarking. The report includes but is not limited to:
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Defined contribution capital raising volume and distribution strategies, enterprise metrics including staffing and organizational best practices, vehicle structuring and liquidity.
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All members participating in the Survey can access results.
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Next issue released: May 2025
global management
survey
Proprietary research benchmarking the organizational, financial and capital raising metrics of real estate investment managers, providing a global perspective as well as North American and European regional analysis. Produced by NAREIM and Ferguson Partners, the GMS Survey provides a global and regional overview of enterprise metrics. The report covers more than 65 individual data points, including, but not limited to:
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Revenue: Capital raising and net and gross AUM growth year-over-year, new commitment trends, investor concentration ratios, use of daily-valued private RE vehicles, dry powder and subs lines, leverage use, acquisition & disposition volumes and revenues.
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Organizational Metrics: Headcount growth, employees per $1bn AUM, employee breakdowns per function, per function and seniority, including portfolio management, asset management and acquisitions. Span of controls, turnover and layoffs, valuation policies, functional group trends - ESG, Data Strategy, Asset Management​ and more.
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Financial Metrics: YOY financial performance, EBITDA (pre- and post-bonus) margins, bonus pools, revenue and expense breakdowns, treatment of fund-level expenses.
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Fund/Account T&Cs: Target returns, asset management fees, acquisition & disposition fees, fee prevalence, promote/carried interest trends, promote catch-ups, GP co-investments, fund employees.
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Governance: Composition of executive committees, board of directors, management committees and investment committees; IC deal flow, voting and decision trends; SEC registration and audit frequency.
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The Global Management Survey is produced in association with Ferguson Partners. NAREIM members can access the executive summary here.
Next issue released: Jan 2026
DEI: diversity, Equity & inclusion
The Global Real Estate DEI Survey is the only corporate benchmark for diversity, equity and inclusion metrics and management best practices for the whole of the CRE.
The Survey, which is conducted on a biannual schedule, is produced in partnership with: AFIRE, AIA, APREA, AREF, BOMA, BPF, CFMA, CoreNet Global, CREFC, EPRA, Ferguson Partners, NAIOP, NAREIM, NCREIF, OSCRE, PFA, PREA, RICS, REALPAC and ULI.
The DEI Survey provides corporate benchmarking of gender and race/ethnicity across seniority and job functions in the US as well as gender in Canada, Asia Pacific and Europe.
The Survey covers data points, including, but not limited to:
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Employee Demographics
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Best Practice Metrics: Practices relating to the implementation of DEI strategies and initiatives across investment management organizations, including issues relating to ownership and staffing, accountability, tracking and measurement, retention and recruitment, external partnerships and activities, pay equity and transparency.
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