Asset managers and facilities managers used to have a secret pact that both would operate in complete ignorance of each other. To everyone’s relief they might now have to start working together, suggests Claire Saeki.

Over the past eighteen months, investing in real estate has shown itself to be a risky business. Unlike other types of investment in say securities or gold, each building is different and a beautiful array of things can go wrong with it. This is why an investor needs whoever is managing their asset to actually know something about how buildings operate, not just about whether the market is up or down.

As markets mature the benefits of outsourcing corporate services become clearer, but does jumping into bed with someone long term always work out? RFP speaks to three different companies and compares their experiences.