Real estate: Emerging managers to watch in 2026 (With Intelligence)

March 11, 2026, --with.Intelligence-- Real estate: Emerging managers to watch in 2026

Private real estate fundraising in 2025 increased year-over-year for the first time since 2021, even though the market continued to face macroeconomic pressure, high interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty.

This suggests the market is recovering, but only gradually.

Many large pension funds still have less invested in real estate than their target allocations, which should support future fundraising. In 2025, nearly 90% of capital went into opportunistic, value-add, and debt strategies, and these approaches are expected to remain popular in 2026.

Of the 411 new fund launches reported by us in 2025, 156 were new firms and debut funds.

Fundraising dynamics reflect a widening divide between mega-managers and emerging managers. The top 10 funds captured 40% of total capital raised in 2025, underscoring continued industry consolidation.

Despite this, pedigreed pros continue to see opportunity in the market for new propositions. We have tracked several who have left established firms to start new businesses.

These are the top real estate asset manager launches to watch in 2026:

Arselle Investments | Kev Zoryan, Aaron Greeno | Los Angeles

Kev Zoryan and Aaron Greeno, both former managing directors at Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI), founded Arselle Investments last April.

The firm’s strategy will focus on generating proprietary deal flow through investments in select, vertically integrated real estate operating platforms.

In January, Arselle teamed up with California-based firm Amoroso Companies to form Amonte Living, a platform aiming to acquire $500 million of multifamily assets throughout the Western US over the next two-to-three years.

In addition to residential assets, Arselle has investment partnerships planned this year in platforms focused on shallow-bay industrial, grocery-anchored retail and self-storage.

Following his 13-year tenure as the co-head of US investments at MSREI, Greeno worked as a partner and head of West Coast investments at $2.1 billion Dune Real Estate Partners (DREP).

Arselle also hired a former vice president from New York-based Dune as a principal upon the firm’s launch.

Collectively, Greeno and Zoryan have investment experience totaling $15 billion in transactions equating to 52 million sq. ft. of US real estate.

Read the full report: with.Intelligence