Friday, March 3, 2023 – 8:13 PM
ABU DHABI, 3rd March / WAM / The first day of the “Investopia” 2023 conference in Abu Dhabi witnessed the launch of a session entitled “Global Real Estate and Private Equity: Investing in a Changing Environment”, which highlighted the opportunities available to investors in different sectors of the markets.
The panel discussion included a number of speakers, including Margaret Annadu, Senior Partner of the Vestria Group, Michael Campbell, Head of Real Estate Investments at Mubadala, Ryan Williams, CEO of Cadre, and Eric Kass, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Europe & Partners, a subsidiary of the “Europe & Partners” group. Partners”.
Speakers addressed the state of global real estate and private equity markets, and touched on the resilience of commercial real estate and housing in the face of rising interest rates and the impact on the broader market.
For his part, Michael Campbell discussed Mubadala’s focus on logistics and private credit, and pointed to the impact of e-commerce and the pandemic on supply chains, stressing the need for new logistical spaces closer to shipping places or through easier means of transportation.
He pointed to the expansion of “Mubadala” in Asia and Japan in 2021-2022, suggesting that this will remain a prevailing trend, indicating that “Mubadala” has shifted its focus on private credit from lending to real estate that generates cash flows into transformative opportunities.
For his part, Eric Cass highlighted the impact of high interest rates on real estate investments, pointing out that the increase in prices means that people do not have money to invest in real estate, which prompts them to sell, which provides opportunities to buy assets.
He added that traditional basic assets are not the best option at present, so the strategy has shifted globally towards value-added investments and investing opportunities in distressed sellers, reconstructing buildings that comply with environmental, social and governance standards, as well as green field investments.
He pointed out the need to raise the level of flexibility in investments in the future while achieving a better pricing strategy and developing key ideas, in addition to the need for buildings to be transformed into sustainable ones that include amenities and guard services.
Commenting on the real estate scene in the United States, Margaret Anadu said that the real estate scene in America was attractive due to the abundance of capital and new investors, the ease of obtaining credit conditions, and the low interest rates over the past 8 years..However, the current environment of inflation and potential recession will lead to It is expected to balance the sector, noting that the multi-category sectors for rent, sale and industry will need to work harder due to inflation and adverse structural conditions.
In turn, Ryan Williams explained that their platform focuses on local growth markets and sectors, with investors globally participating in real estate opportunities.
He pointed out that they use technology, data science and relationships to build a high-quality portfolio that has managed to hold together well, and that a third of the platform’s investors belong to non-American families.
Williams believes that there is more time, which encourages investors to be more daring, noting that there are people who will need more capital, and their platform was created to provide these opportunities to the public.
At the end of the panel discussion, the speakers provided the most important advice and opportunities in the field of real estate .. Michael Campbell suggested focusing on residential real estate and logistics services, while Eric Cass recommended investing in value-added real estate with short-term leases and real estate in the life sciences sector .. while I preferred Margaret Anadu, acquisitions in the least expensive sector of the residential market to correct the imbalance between supply and demand.. In turn, Ryan Williams recommended investing in medium-sized real estate deals with unique rescue capital in certain sectors and being bold and courageous, while others are afraid of not getting on chances.
Reda Abdel Nour / Ahmed Al Nuaimi
