Summit Observations: Emerging Themes in Real Estate Investment Management

A few weeks ago we gathered with our clients for the annual Resolve Client Summit. The Summit was a great opportunity for us to get a condensed intake of the topics that are top of mind for the industry.

As always, it was a powerful gathering with representatives from many of the leading real estate investment firms. At the same time, there were several important emerging themes that I find noteworthy.

1. The industry is hungry for a better way to manage investments. Being a software company, a great deal of our contact with clients is facilitated by their IT departments. As much as we appreciate our IT contacts and depend on them, I was encouraged by the fact that this year’s Summit was attended by a record number of representatives of the business side. This tells me that the people tasked with managing real estate investment portfolios are increasingly realizing the need for better technology solutions to support their business goals.
   


2. Cash and debt are still the two hot buttons. With lower valuations and continued pressure on lease rates and occupancies, fund and portfolio managers are clamoring for better tools to manage liquidity and keep close tabs on debt levels, payment schedules, LTV, DSCR, and the many covenants attached to each loans.
   


3. Data visualization is becoming a hot topic. One of the most popular items at the Summit was a hands-on training session on our Executive Dashboards, signaling that data visualization is gaining recognition as a way to help executives make sense of the information available to them.
   


4. Companies are looking to standardize across global operations. This year we had our first client representation from Europe, and “going global” was a topic that attracted a good amount of attention. Companies that have implemented investment management solutions in their North American operations are looking to roll them out globally. This will not only allow these companies to reap the benefits of the solutions across their operations but, just as importantly, help them take a big step towards standardizing systems and processes.

Are these also the issues on your mind? What do you think will be the keys to success in the coming years? Please feel free to comment or send me a note with your thoughts.