Real and Private-Value Assets

Abstract

Real and private-value assets—defined here as the sum of real estate, infrastructure, collectibles, and non-corporate business equity—is an investment class worth an estimated $85 trillion in the U.S. alone. Furthermore, private values can affect pricing in many other financial markets, such as that for sustainable investments. This paper introduces the research on real assets and private values that can be found in this special issue. It also reviews recent advances—and suggests new research directions—on a number of topics in the real assets space that we believe to be particularly important and exciting.