Meredith Despins, NAREIT senior vice president for investment affairs and investor education, and Calvin Schnure, NAREIT senior vice president for research and economic analysis, held meetings in January with a number of investment and industry organizations in Oregon and Nevada.
The team met directly with:
*Senior investment staff of a large public sector pension fund;
*Research and portfolio management executives at Ferguson Wellman, an independent advisory firm serving the investment needs of union and corporate retirement plans, endowments and foundations, as well as individuals and families;
*The Las Vegas office of the investment consulting firm NEPC.
The central themes discussed in the meetings included a discussion of the macro economy, the outlook for commercial real estate and how listed REITs are positioned in the current environment.
While in Nevada, NAREIT participated in two industry events held in Las Vegas. Despins co-hosted an educational event on Jan. 20 sponsored by the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Society of Nevada. Schnure, meanwhile, lead a round table discussion focusing on the current macroeconomic climate, the relationship between interest rates and real estate returns, and the investment characteristics of listed REITs.
On Jan. 21, Schnure was the keynote speaker at an educational event jointly sponsored by the Lee Business School's Lied Institute for Real Estate Studies at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and NAIOP Southern Nevada. Schnure spoke about the durability of the macro economy, the resilience of REITs to rising interest rates, property prices and cap rates, new construction and the impact of each factor on commercial real estate.
(Contact: Meredith Despins at mdespins@nareit.com)