As an MSc Real Estate student and Vice-President of the Real Estate Club, I was delighted to take part in the Real Estate Club’s eighth annual May flagship conference at BAFTA Hall, Piccadilly, hosting industry-leading speakers from premier property firms for the 2019 Cass Real Estate Club Summit on Global Investment Strategy.

The conference

Focusing this year on global investment strategy, the all-day conference featured exciting panel discussions on a range of topics including global capital flows, innovations in real estate, property development and an intriguing investigation of ultra-high net worth and institutional investment strategies. With leading speakers from premier firms such as UBS, Knight Frank, GIC, CBRE Global Investors, Hines, HFF, Grosvenor, PGIM, LandSec and many more in attendance, over 250 attendees had the opportunity to hear from and network with industry leaders on a variety of subjects in today’s dynamic property market.

Keynotes delivered by Concrete Venture Capital partner, Chris Stephenson, and UBS’s UK Chief Investment Officer, Geoffrey Yu, on the future of innovation in the built environment and global macro-economic outlook offered context as to where the property market is heading near term. Their speeches decoded what we can expect as forthcoming graduates in a constantly innovating built environment.

The attendance and caliber of speakers on the day is not only a testament to the reputation of Cass, but also to the Business School’s continued commitment to engaging current master’s students with both industry leaders and our extensive alumni network. Nearly half of the speakers, all managing directors and department heads of prestigious firms, were Cass alumni or are affiliated with the Business School through professional or personal connections.

Alumni

The level of engagement from alumni demonstrated the fantastic camaraderie fostered at Cass through an exacting education and continued networking opportunities post-graduation. The nearly six-month process of planning, pitching, booking and organizing the event underscores the hard work and dedication of the entire Real Estate Club team, with support from Cass and the events office.

The Cass Real Estate Club

The event is moving into its ninth year in 2020 and has evolved over the years to become a student-led initiative. Be it crafting panel content, leading sponsorship development for the club, and or gaining experience in organizing a boutique industry event, the conference provides students the opportunity to work with industry leaders.

Events such as Cass REC 2019 are the result of the Cass Real Estate Club’s continued commitment to supporting the Business School’s strategic goals. For nearly a decade, the club has done so through its two-fold mandate: providing forums for networking and learning so that master’s students and alumni can connect; and raising funds for the Real Estate Club’s scholarship initiative which benefits two incoming MSc Real Estate or MSc Real Estate Investment students each year. Successful venture partnerships with Drooms and Altus Group, along with strategic media partnerships with CoStar and Real Estate Fund Intelligence, made Cass REC 2019 a fun, successful and fruitful day of insight and networking. The club thoroughly looks forward to welcoming everyone next year to Cass REC 2020!

Myles Hooper, MSc Real Estate (2019)
Vice President, Cass Real Estate Club 2019