Our Managing Director, Gábor Szarvas, presented the study of HuSIF on real estate funds at the Portfolio Property X 2025 conference!
- Gergely Kovács
- Jun 10
- 2 min read
The study on green real estate funds, jointly prepared by the Hungarian Sustainable Investment and Financing Association (HuSIF) and Greenbors Consulting, has been published. It was presented by our Managing Director, Gábor Szarvas, at this year’s Portfolio Property X conference. In his presentation, Szarvas explored how more ESG-focused real estate funds could be launched in Hungary, particularly from the perspective of green building standards and regulations.
According to the study, the total assets of domestic public real estate funds currently amount to approximately HUF 2,000 billion, of which around 34% – that is, HUF 600–800 billion – are managed according to ESG criteria. For similarly sized private funds, there is no publicly available ESG data. Overall, the known ratio of green real estate assets is between 15–20%. This figure is not particularly low by European standards but still falls short of the EU average of 42%, from which only 3% qualify as specifically sustainable, so-called "dark green" investments. Currently, there is only one public ESG real estate fund in Hungary, and no “dark green” fund yet exists.
The study emphasizes that it is in Hungary’s interest to catch up with or even surpass the EU average, as this would bring not only environmental but also economic benefits, such as reduced energy dependence and increased competitiveness. To support this, the authors make several professional recommendations – for example, that buildings initially not energy-efficient but purchased for renovation could still qualify as green investments if supported by an adequate refurbishment plan. They also highlight the importance of applying credible, measurable ESG criteria and the need for public education.
According to the study, the spread of new investment forms – such as ELTIFs and REITs – could also support the growth of green real estate investments. In the long term, a realistic goal would be for more asset managers to launch ESG or even “dark green” focused real estate funds, thereby increasing the volume of sustainably managed assets to over HUF 1,000 billion.
Source: Portfolio
The full study is available at the following link (in Hungarian):
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