Formulas for CRE Success Revealed at NYU Women’s Conference

J.P. Morgan Managing Director Anne E. Cole and Osso Capital Founder Olivia John at the NYU Women in Real Estate Symposium

“This is the time when it is never more important to be talking to your clients,” said J.P. Morgan Managing Director Anne E. Cole. “You may not be raising capital with them, but this is the way you preserve your capital with them, and you build a foundation for wherever we are going in this journey.”

The 5th Annual Women in Real Estate Symposium hosted by NYU’s Schack Institute kicked off with three seasoned female investment managers discussing how they are navigating fundraising in the current uncertainty and how they have built successful careers.

As investors pause in reaction to inflation, rising interest rates, and the disruptions in the public equity and fixed-income markets, hard work and forming new relationships are also essential, said Cole, who heads Global Real Estate Client Strategy for J.P. Morgan Asset Management and has been at the investment bank for 36 years.

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“And you are not going to see the reward today,” she said. “You are going to see the reward in two quarters, three quarters, four quarters—whatever time it is going to take for investors to get comfortable again.”

Osso Capital Founder & CEO Olivia John, a former Blackstone managing director, said it is critical to find investors who trust your judgment and allow you to do what you think is best. John’s firm has raised two funds since opening its doors in fall of 2020: a $400 million fund in 2021 and a $750 million fund that it raised from January to June of this year.

“In January, it was a very different environment, and we had a very different outlook and, by February, we started pumping the brakes,” she said.

John was concerned that investors would be rattled by the change in course. “But they were actually elated we had the discipline to take a step back,” she said.

Park Madison Partners Founder Nancy Lashine

Fortunately, she said, the fund is closed-ended. They have four years to invest the capital, and the fund term itself is up to 12 years long. “Our investors made a decision that they are in it for the long haul,” she said.

Nancy Lashine, managing partner & founder of placement agent Park Madison Partners, recommended looking ahead to what investors will want in 12 to 18 months from now because that is how long it takes to raise a fund. During the impending downturn, her firm will be concentrating on its niche real estate strategies since people always want something “different” in their portfolios.

“We also expect we will do a lot of restructurings—a lot of distress,” she said. “We may add a debt platform to our roster, and we will just try to be responsive.”

Follow the growth

The conference was attended by a few hundred aspiring real estate executives enrolled in NYU’s Schack’s real estate programs. The panelists offered the mostly-female crowd a few professional development tips as well.

John, who was the first woman in on Blackstone’s New York real estate investment team and helped the company grow its formidable multifamily platform, recommended students join a rapidly growing firm.

“New lanes are created in a rapidly growing business,” she said. The firm should also be a meritocracy, where talent and hard work will be rewarded. “The firm will want you to grow and want the firm to grow.”

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When she arrived at Blackstone and saw that Jonathan Gray was co-head of the company at the age of 35, John knew the company “threw away the book” on hiring and promoting.

Cole agreed, noting dynamic and open-minded leaders at J.P. Morgan twice enabled her to pivot into new roles rather than resign when her personal circumstances changed. But essentially, she said, the students will need to create their own realities.

“There’s no entitlement,” she said. “You need to work for what you deserve and go after it.”

Lashine, who started her own firm 17 years ago to achieve the work-life balance she needed, stressed finding mentors inside and outside of your firm and being open to change since success can also be traced to luck and chance.