Logistics between efficiency and resilience – Why security is becoming an investment criterion

The topic of defence and logistics is gaining significant importance. Discussions around special funds, industrial resilience and strategic infrastructure are increasingly shaping the real estate sector.

From an investor and market perspective, a key question arises:

Is a new institutional “defence asset class” emerging – or are we instead seeing a fundamental shift in the valuation and investment logic of existing logistics and industrial real estate?

 

From efficiency to resilience

For many years, the logistics market has been driven primarily by efficiency:

just-in-time delivery, global optimisation and maximum space efficiency defined requirements for locations and supply chains.

Today, this perspective is increasingly shifting.

Themes such as resilience, redundancy, security of supply, friend-shoring, critical infrastructure (KRITIS), dual-use structures, and strategic autonomy are gaining considerable importance. The key question is therefore no longer simply: “Where can production and distribution be organised most efficiently?” but rather: “Which assets, supply chains and locations remain operational under crisis conditions?”

This fundamentally changes the role of logistics and infrastructure. Logistics is no longer viewed solely through the lens of efficiency, but increasingly as part of Europe’s security and resilience architecture.

 

Industrial transformation is reshaping demand profiles

Alongside geopolitical realignment, Europe’s industrial landscape is already undergoing structural change.

Companies in traditional industries are exploring new defence and dual-use business models. At the same time, new technology-driven players are emerging at the intersection of software, AI, sensor technologies, space and security.

These developments are creating new requirements for:

• logistics,
• energy supply,
• industrial sites,
• data networks,
• and resilient supply chains.

As a result, demand for logistics and industrial real estate is also evolving.

From our perspective, the key point is this: the defence sector may not create an entirely new real estate asset class, but it is fundamentally reshaping the requirements for existing logistics and industrial assets.

 

Security as a location factor

Security and resilience considerations are increasingly relevant at the asset level.

In practice, this is reflected in questions such as:

• security and access concepts,
• cyber and data security,
• investment control,
• ownership and user structure requirements,
• exit optionality,
• third-party usability,
• and regulatory resilience requirements.

In addition, requirements relating to energy supply and security of supply are increasing.

Topics such as grid capacity, redundancy, backup power capability, truck charging infrastructure, battery storage, and robust energy infrastructure are becoming integral to location and investment decisions.

Particularly in the context of critical infrastructure, the boundaries between digital and physical security are becoming increasingly blurred.

Germany’s new umbrella legislation on critical infrastructure further reinforces this trend. Operators will be required to consider not only IT security, but also the physical resilience of entire sites.

Security is therefore becoming a key location factor.

And resilience an increasingly important investment criterion.

 

Capital market logic and security logic do not always align

Despite the growing attention on defence, there are strong arguments against the rapid emergence of a fully distinct institutional real estate segment.

Institutional real estate markets are typically characterised by:

• openness,
• fungibility,
• international capital mobility,
• and flexible exit options.

By contrast, security-critical infrastructure often follows a different logic: state control, regulatory steering, restricted ownership structures, security clearances, and strategic sovereignty become more relevant.

In addition, defence-related markets are often shaped by:

• confidentiality requirements,
• limited transparency,
• lengthy certification processes,
• and significant regulatory barriers to entry.

For new market participants in particular, access is therefore often more constrained than current public discourse might suggest.

 

Where institutional investment opportunities may emerge

The most relevant institutional opportunities are therefore unlikely to lie in the highly sensitive core areas of traditional defence infrastructure.

Instead, potential is more likely to emerge where: logistics, dual-use applications, resilient supply chains, industrial transformation, energy systems, and civil protection-related infrastructure intersect.

In these areas, the mobilisation of private capital is likely to play a far greater role than in the core domain of state-controlled security infrastructure.

The key shift may therefore not be the emergence of a new asset class, but rather the gradual “securitisation” of existing logistics and industrial markets.

This debate is set to play a defining role for the real estate and infrastructure sectors in the years ahead.