Q&A: What’s the outlook for real estate given the COVID-19 pandemic?

Today, we’re sitting down with LifeGuide Partner and Chief Investment Officer, Zak Lutz, to answer some of the most frequently asked questions we receive. This is the first part in our six-part Q&A series.

Q: What’s the outlook for real estate given the COVID-19 pandemic?

A: When you think about real estate right now, you’re probably thinking about empty office buildings, retail, shopping malls, etc. However, our real estate holding is much bigger than that and includes many different sectors in a diversified real estate fund. Included under the broad umbrella of “real estate” are things you may not necessarily think of, such as:

• Data centers
• Cell phone towers
• Logistics
• Warehouses
• Healthcare facilities
• Housing

Office space actually makes up a smaller percentage of a diversified real estate fund than most think. While it’s possible that office space may be undergoing a bit of a sea change, some of these other sectors have actually benefited tremendously throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Ultimately, there will be winners and losers with real estate. However, these winners and losers will offset each other to some degree.

Bottom line: We believe the prospects for real estate as a whole are still attractive and can be a good diversifier in your portfolio.