A few words from Tom Pinnell, FutureGen Committee Chair....
With the 2010’s almost behind us, I think it is safe to say that the next decade in the Real Estate industry will likely be very different to the last. 2013 saw the implementation of the AIFMD, which had a dramatic effect on the management of Real Estate funds; 2016 saw the UK vote to leave the European Union; and more recently, 3 general elections in 4 years have brought prolonged uncertainty to the market, particularly in core commercial sectors. For some of us, these factors will have had minimal effect on our working careers – more likely we’ll be looking back on PropTech, Blockchain and Co-working as our influencers.
The AREF FutureGen Network has been up and running for almost 2 years now, during which time the network has grown to in excess of 450 members. The audience is loosely defined as staff in the first 10 years of their career and not in a senior management position. The FutureGen Network was started to provide a platform for members in their respective firms to learn, debate and network with their peers.
In 2019, we held 7 events in London. Our Fund Life Cycle Training Series, sponsored by Carey Olsen, covered operational aspects of fund management, including structuring, tax and deployment. We hosted 2 topical discussions; “The Wellness Trend,” and “How Will the Climate Crisis Affect our Real Estate Portfolios?” Finally, we held summer and winter “speed-networking” events in the City, taking us to total of over 500 registrations across our events, from a variety of member and non-member firms
Looking ahead to 2020, the Committee are currently planning a follow up training series looking at the downstream side of Real Estate funds, to include talks on portfolio management, investment committee processes and valuations. We will continue to discuss market trends, and run discursive seminars relevant to the market, with ESG and sustainability likely to feature heavily. Finally, a new initiative we are looking to roll out will be site visits, and I would welcome your feedback on this idea.
In the meantime, all that remains to say is a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us on the AREF FutureGen Committee. Please feel free to forward this on to your colleagues, who can also sign up to the network here.
Click on the links below to view resources and materials from FutureGen events in 2019:
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