Alex Davies (Chair FutureGen Committee)

Alex Davies (Chair FutureGen Committee)

Accountant, Cardiff Capital Region

Alex joined Cardiff Capital Region in January 2025. Prior to this, he was part of Langham Hall’s Real Estate team, providing a wide range of accounting, investor reporting, and administrative services to multi-jurisdictional funds.

His accountancy career began in Audit in 2020, followed by roles in Real Estate Debt Advisory and Corporate Finance. His experience across these areas has reinforced his passion for both Real Estate and financial services.

Alex is a graduate of the University of York, where he obtained a BA (Hons) in Politics & International Relations.

Frankie Demetriades

Frankie Demetriades

ESG Manager, Abrdn

Frankie is Vice-chair of AREF's FutureGen Committee.

Frankie joined Abrdn in July 2023 as a Real Estate ESG Manager working across the European funds, with a particular focus on decarbonisation.

Frankie started her career at Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) where she trained as a chartered surveyor before specialising in sustainability and setting up the LSH sustainability team. Following LSH, Frankie joined Fiera Real Estate as an Associate Director within the ESG team where she was primarily responsible for leading and implementing the UK ESG strategy.

Frankie holds an MSt in sustainability in the Built Environment from the University of Cambridge, an MSC in Real Estate from the London South Bank University and a BA (Hons) in History from the University of London

Oliver Cookson

Oliver Cookson

Investment Associate, Octopus Real Estate

Oliver joined Octopus Real Estate in 2020 and is an investment associate. His role includes loan origination, portfolio management, and fund management across a series of debt funds. Prior to joining Octopus Real Estate, Oliver completed the MSc Real Estate at Henley Business School, and he holds a MA in Philosophy & Politics from the University of Edinburgh. Oliver is a member of the RICS.

 

Will Lawrence

Will Lawrence

Senior Associate, Funds and Indirect Real Assets, CMS UK

Will joined CMS (formerly Nabarro) in 2014 and is a Senior Associate in their Funds and Indirect Real Assets team in London. Will advises fund managers, asset managers and investors on a wide range of fund formation, joint venture and M&A matters.

Taryn Mundy

Taryn Mundy

Associate, CBRE Investment Management

Taryn joined CBRE Investment Management in 2021. Her role includes investment transactions, asset management and fund management across the CBRE UK Property PAIF and two separate account clients.

Prior to CBRE IM, Taryn worked at Cushman & Wakefield.

Taryn hold an MSc in Real Estate from Oxford Brookes University (2017) and is a member of the RICS (2019).

Carine Packer

Carine Packer

Product Manager, Schroders

Carine is a Product Manager at Schroders Capital. In her role she supports the UK team with strategic and ongoing client and product management. Prior to this Carine was at CBRE Investment Management and Aviva Investors as a Product Specialist covering long income, European logistics and European value-add strategies.

 Carine graduated from the University of Nottingham with a LLB in Law with South East Asian Law.

Will Thompson

Will Thompson

Analyst, The Townsend Group

Will joined the Townsend Group as an Analyst in April 2021, after completing the MSc, Real Estate at Henley Business School.

The Founded in 1983, The Townsend Group, an Aon Company, is a leading provider of global investment management and advisory services focused exclusively on real estate and real assets. Committed to excellence in investment management and client service, Townsend serves an institutional client base providing custom investment solutions to help meet the needs and objectives of their investment programs. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the firm has offices in San Francisco, London and Hong Kong.

 

Jack Quinlan

Jack Quinlan

Investment Analyst, Blackrock Investment Management

Jack joined the Alternatives Manager Research team at BlackRock in November 2023. He is responsible for the sourcing, due diligence and monitoring of strategies. Prior to this he spent close to four years at DTZ Investors in the multi manager team, investing in real estate funds in the UK and globally.

He is a graduate of the University of Bristol with a degree in Economics. He holds the Investment Management Certificate and is a level 2 CFA candidate.

 

Clare Whyte

Clare Whyte

Head of Marketing & Events, AREF

Clare is responsible for all aspects of the planning, development and execution of the marketing strategy for AREF. 

Clare leads on event management, liaising with committees and members to schedule, plan and deliver an effective events calendar for the association.  She also has overall responsibility for brand, as well as the design, development and production of marketing across both digital and offline channels, including the website.  

Mel Ali

Mel Ali

Office and Operations Manager, AREF

Mel ensures smooth daily operations, manages logistics and the database, coordinates meetings and events, supports committees and projects, and assists the finance team.