Traditionally, the real estate is seen as a one of components of investment portfolio of institutional investors due to its diversification potential. Insurance companies, in particular, specializing in life insurance and collecting significant capital, in developed economies are important participants of the real estate markets. However, in Poland, the insurance companies are reluctant to use their resources to acquire the property. The authors seek to determine the causes of this situation by proposing to look at real estate investments from different points of view. To determine the viability of such investments they examine the size of the investment in real estate together with generated costs and revenues comparing to other investments. Secondly, they try to determine the impact of the acquisition of real estate on indicators of the profitability of the company which is the insurance company. The survey was conducted on the basis of annual data on the results of insurance companies in Poland, collected by the Financial Supervision Commission. The authors tried to look for investments in real estate from the perspective of the owner - the entrepreneur who strives to achieve the economic objectives, and from the standpoint of beneficiaries who bought life insurance policies.