Unrest on all fronts. Real estate as a point of stability.
Mats Kramer
17 maart 2026
5 min read
Unrest on all fronts. Real estate as a point of stability.
Why real estate is the stable pillar your portfolio needs.
Let’s be honest. The war in the Middle East affects us all, including investors. Every escalation pushes oil prices higher. Higher energy prices fuel inflation. And inflation forces central banks to keep interest rates high for longer than anyone had hoped. That chain is not abstract. It directly affects the value of your investments.
What does this do to your investments?
Stocks are under pressure because corporate profits are shrinking due to higher costs and weakening consumer confidence. Dividends are not guaranteed and can be cut. And in the event of bankruptcy, you lose everything as a shareholder: there is no collateral, no physical asset to fall back on.
Crypto is even more vulnerable in that sense: no cash flow, no underlying value, and volatility that exceeds any other asset class. Bonds do offer a fixed coupon, but they lose purchasing power in periods of high inflation. And those investing in corporate bonds still carry the risk that the issuer defaults.
Tech and SaaS stocks are being hit twice. First by higher interest rates: tech companies burn capital and rely on cheap funding. That cheap money is no longer available. But there is a more fundamental shift at play. AI is changing the rules of the entire software market. Solutions that once required a team of developers can now be built in a weekend using AI tools. Custom software that once cost tens of thousands of euros can suddenly be created for almost nothing. Large established players can become irrelevant within a few years, while small players can emerge out of nowhere. That uncertainty makes tech one of the most unpredictable corners of the market.
Why real estate is different
Against all that uncertainty stands real estate. Not as a miracle solution, because real estate also carries risk. Tenants can go bankrupt, causing your cash flow to drop temporarily. But this is where the crucial difference lies: there is always something left. A building with land, walls, and a function. With a stock or cryptocurrency, the value can go to zero. With real estate, it cannot. Land is physical and land is scarce—especially in a densely populated country like the Netherlands—and it becomes even scarcer in a world with a growing population. That scarcity provides a fundamental floor to value that no other asset class has.
Smart real estate management also reduces tenant risk by diversifying across multiple properties, sectors, and tenant types. If one falls away, the others continue to perform. On top of that, lease agreements are typically indexed annually to inflation. Precisely in times when the cost of living rises, your rental income grows with it. That is a feature that stocks, crypto, and bonds simply do not have.
“The difference between investments that can completely evaporate and investments where land and buildings always remain is not a prediction. It is a fact.”
Investor Relations Manager
No hassle. Just real estate. Close to home.
The allure of real estate in Dubai or other locations around the world is understandable, but attractive returns often come with risks that are difficult to assess from the Netherlands. The Dutch market offers transparency, legal certainty, and a strong tenant base. Proximity isn’t a luxury—it’s risk management.
Direct property ownership does come with a lot of hassle: regulations, maintenance, tenant management. Investing through a fund solves that for private investors. You benefit from cash flow, inflation protection, and tangible underlying assets—without ever having to turn a key yourself. That’s exactly what we do at Benkey. We invest exclusively in commercial real estate in the Netherlands, focusing on the mid-cap segment where the best opportunities lie. Through the Benkey Portal, you can monitor your investment as easily as a stock in your brokerage account—but with real bricks under it, not just hope.
Rock-solid in wealth.
No one can predict what the markets will do tomorrow. Or when the conflict in the Middle East will escalate or de-escalate. Or which software company will become the next Kodak.
But the difference between investments that can completely evaporate and investments where land and buildings always remain is not a prediction. It is a fact.
Curious? Create a free account on the Benkey Portal or contact one of our Investor Relations Managers. We are happy to think along with you.
