Last month, the INREV Academy held two courses addressing key challenges across real estate financing and investor communication. Held in Paris and Amsterdam, the programmes brought together experts from across the industry to share market insight, hands-on experience and global perspectives.
We returned to Paris for the Real Estate Financing course on 17 March, marking INREV Academy’s return to the city with a timely deep dive into how financing strategies are evolving in today’s market. Led by Mathew Crowther (PGIM Real Estate), the one‑day programme brought together lender and borrower perspectives to explore capital structures, pricing dynamics and risk management in a changing environment.
Participants heard from:
- Michael Shields (ING Wholesale Banking), who outlined the state of the senior lending market, including underwriting trends, pricing conditions and lender appetite
- Bruno Dord (PIMCO Prime Real Estate), who provided a lender’s perspective on debt origination, portfolio construction and managing lending relationships
- Sarah Fletcher (PGIM Real Estate), who examined the growth of alternative lending, key non‑bank players and the implications for borrowers and sponsors
- Duco Mook (CBRE Investment Management), sharing a borrower’s view on sourcing, structuring and managing real estate debt
- Ross Jennison (Chatham Financial), who covered hedging strategies, including interest rate swaps, caps and pre‑hedging solutions
- Gianluca Marcato (Henley Business School), who explored capital structures, combining different sources of debt and understanding the cost of financing
The programme concluded with a practical case study, allowing participants to apply key concepts discussed throughout the day. We also had a group dinner celebrating Gianluca’s birthday!
Later in the month, the Investor Relations and Communication course took place in Amsterdam on 24 and 25 March, focusing on product development, capital raising strategies and navigating an increasingly diverse global investor base. Led by Gabi Stein (Nuveen Real Estate), the course examined how managers position products, communicate with investors and manage relationships across the full investment lifecycle.
Contributors included:
- Annemarie Manning (Orange Capital Partners), who addressed product development, investor demand and effective positioning and marketing
- Jeff Rupp (INREV), who outlined key regulations and tax rules relevant to product development and distribution
- James Morrow (Hines), guiding participants through the full capital raising cycle, from strategy through execution
- Ajay Sharma (BGO), who explored different investor styles, regional and cultural differences and how communication needs to adapt globally
- Investor panel discussion featuring Saskia van den Bronk (Bouwinvest), Nick Duff (The Townsend Group) and Frans van Lanschot (a.s.r. real assets investment partners), offering candid insights into investor expectations and best practices
Participants also had the opportunity to meet and mingle during a group dinner at Restaurant de Struisvogel.
If you’re interested in the next edition of these courses, you can sign up to get notified on the course pages.