Property managers need to cut their fees, according to one of the largest investment consultancies in the world, which said today that current fee arrangements make them "much less positive" on many of the funds available to their clients.

Douglas Crawshaw, a senior investment consultant at Towers Watson, said: "For the first time in a number of years we are positive about new investment opportunities in real estate, notably those being offered by certain specialist fund managers. Some private equity-style real estate funds appear well placed to take advantage of continued dislocations in property markets.