Financial Strategy for Real Estate in the New Macroeconomic Environment

Walid Hejazi, Associate Professor of Economic Analysis and Policy, Rotman School of Management; Fellow, Michael Lee-Chin Family Institute for Corporate Citizenship

Tony Reale, Head of Canadian Real Estate Investment Banking, BMO Capital Markets

Allison Wolfe, Chief Financial Officer and Global Head of Portfolio Management, Oxford Properties Group

Moderator: Paul Brundage, Executive In Residence, R-LABS Canada Inc.

Co-Hosted by:

Today’s higher interest rate environment has created major impacts in real estate; this event will explore the financial challenges of operating in this new reality.

Prior to COVID, markets enjoyed 30 years of low interest rate and low inflation. Many are forecasting that this heightened interest rate environment will persist. In this context, how can builders and asset owners best respond to this? What does his mean for households, for whom the owner-occupied house is a very important part of the portfolio? What does this mean for lenders?

This event will focus on associated key issues, including:

• understanding what the new macroeconomic environment is and how the macroeconomy is likely to evolve;
• what this means for various classes of borrowers, including commercial real estate firms, residential real estate firms, and households;
• what this means for lenders.

Walid Hejazi is an Associate Professor of Economic Analysis and Policy at the Rotman School of Management, Fellow of the Michael Lee-Chin Family Institute for Corporate Citizenship, and member of the Board of Directors of the David & Sharon Johnston Centre for Corporate Governance Innovation. His research focuses on the development of strategies which enhance the ability of companies to compete in domestic and global marketplaces. He has worked closely with many companies to develop and implement innovative strategies, with a particular focus on the role of leaders in preparing those companies to lead strategic change. He is currently working on a book that analyzes strategies that can mobilize global pools of capital into the development of sustainable infrastructure projects in the developing world. He has also worked extensively with Canadian and foreign governments on the development of policies around foreign investment and international trade and has testified extensively before parliamentary and senate committees. He teaches in Rotman’s MBA, EMBA and custom executive programs, and has delivered lectures in over 30 countries, and is a frequent commentator in the media.

Tony Reale is the Head of Canadian Real Estate Investment Banking at BMO Capital Markets. In this role he oversees Investment Banking group, Property Brokerage and the BMO Real Estate Private Equity Fund. Tony brings over 30 years of commercial real estate experience, covering the property brokerage, buyside advisory and investment banking disciplines. He is also the Chief Investment Officer of BMO’s real estate fund. He has deep knowledge of commercial real estate across all major asset classes, including: office, retail, multi-family, industrial as well as development land. Tony has deep rooted relationships and extensive experience with the most active public, private and institutional real estate investors in Canada.

Allison Wolfe is the Chief Financial Officer and Global Head of Portfolio Management of Oxford Properties, a $60 billion global real estate investment, development and management business. Ms. Wolfe leads a team of over 200 professionals responsible for financing and balance sheet management, strategic planning, portfolio management and capital allocation, risk management, financial reporting, tax, valuations and research on a global basis. Ms. Wolfe is a member of Oxford’s Executive Management Team and co-chairs Oxford’s Investment Committee. Allison has served on several OMERS enterprise wide committees related to third-party capital, strategic planning, risk management and technology. Ms. Wolfe has 20 years of real estate investment, finance and advisory experience and has worked on a wide variety of transactions in Canada, US, Europe, Asia and Australia. Prior to joining Oxford in 2010, Allison was a Vice President at Morgan Stanley where she worked in both principle investing and real estate advisory in New York, San Francisco and Toronto.

Moderator: Paul Brundage is a senior commercial real estate executive with over 30 years of global expertise in strategy, investment, development and asset management. He spent the majority of his career in leadership positions at OMERS and Oxford Properties, most recently leading expansion efforts into gateway cities throughout Europe and Asia. Paul has recently joined R-LABS "The Real Estate Industry Venture Builder" as an Executive in Residence based in Toronto, and will be leveraging his extensive industry knowledge and global network to advance innovation in the commercial real estate sector. As a results-oriented leader, Paul brings a fresh perspective on how corporations and entrepreneurial teams can work together, and understands the exciting opportunities R-LABS is bringing to the CRE industry locally and globally. He’s an active member of both the University of Toronto International Leadership Council and Real Estate Advisory Committee, and was previously President of the British Property Federation and member of the Bank of England Commercial Property Advisory Committee.

This event is available to attend in-person or virtually via livestream.

Rotman Events is committed to accessibility for all people. If you have any access needs or if there are any ways we can support your full participation in this session, please email Megan Murphy [[email protected]] no later than 2 weeks in advance of the event and we will be glad to work with you to make the appropriate arrangements.

• The event will be hosted in Desautels Hall at the Rotman School of Management (105 St. George St., Toronto, ON M5S 3E6). Your registration fee includes a seat at the session, as well as access to a video replay of the session for 30 days.

• Rotman Events will email registrants a link to the livestream. Your registration fee includes access to the livestream and video replay for 30 days.

• Unable to attend the event due to scheduling conflicts? Not to worry. All registrants (in-person or livestream) can access the full recording on-demand for one month after the live event.

Questions: [email protected], Megan Murphy

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Rotman School of Management + Livestream, 105 Saint George Street, Toronto, Canada