JLL outstrips CBRE in PropertyEU's top brokers ranking

JLL has emerged as the leading broker overall in Europe in 2013, according to PropertyEU’s latest ranking of the top players in the industry.

JLL advised on investment transactions valued at €31.4 bn in Europe over the year, marking a rise of 36% year-on-year. JLL ended just slightly ahead of its perpetual nearest competitor CBRE which likewise posted a rise of over 30%, but just failed to make the top spot with a total of €29 bn for Europe.

CBRE remains the largest adviser worldwide, however, according to data from Real Capital Analytics (RCA). CBRE is also by far the biggest advisory firm globally in terms of group profit and turnover: in 2013 it saw net income rise 19% globally to $474.3 mln on turnover 10% higher at $7.2 bn. This is almost double the profit and turnover figures for JLL: in 2013 JLL posted net income up 16% at $285 mln following a 12% rise in turnover of to $4 bn.

Commenting on last year's performance, Richard Bloxam, Head of Capital Markets - EMEA, JLL, said investors continued to target European investment opportunities in 2013. 'Despite the lack of available product, JLL’s Capital Markets teams in EMEA traded $180 mln per working day in 2013. But we are committed on being the best, not the biggest,' he added'

According to Bloxam, 70% of JLL's sales in EMEA last year involved a non-domestic investor. 'Our wider capital markets expertise, including structured equity and debt advice, joint venturing, fund raising and bank advisory enabled us to provide the optimal capital solutions for our clients, domestically and internationally across all sectors and throughout the real estate capital stack.'

While JLL and CBRE remain the undisputed leaders in Europe - and worldwide - many of their smaller peers performed even better last year in terms of percentile growth. After seeing investment volume plunge 44% in 2012, Cushman & Wakefield reversed its downward slide last year and virtually doubled the figure to €12 bn. Stockholm-based Catella also turned in a stellar performance after teaming up with London-based Strutt & Parker. Together the two partners lifted investment volume by 184% over the year to almost €11 bn.

The full report and more rankings per sector and per country is available in the May issue of PropertyEU Magazine.