Resolve's Client Summit

September is my favorite month of the year. The weather is beautiful, leaves are turning colorful, and the Red Sox are fighting for a pennant. Most importantly, though, it’s the time our clients gather in town for the Resolve Client Summit.

Taking place at the beautiful Liberty Hotel, this year’s summit was once again an opportunity to get a read on the pulse at some of the leading real estate investment management organizations.

Those who have said “may we live in interesting times” are sure getting their wish come true these days. With the world’s financial markets in turmoil, managing real estate investments has become challenging in ways that were almost unimaginable just a couple of years ago.

The “good old days”, when you could make money in real estate blindfolded and with both hands handcuffed, seem far removed right now. Today’s environment is much less forgiving. Investment managers must be constantly on-guard and ready to take action. The need for visibility, accuracy, proactive thinking, and quick reaction has never been greater. In this tough market, you can no longer tolerate being handcuffed by outdated data, inaccurate calculations, and limited access to information.

At the same time, we must remember that cycles come and go. For the past several years, the focus was on growing investment portfolios. Now that many of us are forced to take a pause, it is an opportunity to catch up on building up the organizational infrastructure required to manage these portfolios in the most effective and responsible manner.

Although the industry is facing some difficult times, I was pleased to see that our solutions are making our clients better equipped to deal with the challenges ahead—with better access to timely and reliable information, better tools to proactively manage risk and returns, and a structured framework for real estate investment management.