(Featuring John Kennedy, Managing Director and Head of Real Estate Asset Management – US, Barings Real Estate, and Rob Little, Head of Real Estate Debt Underwriting and Servicing, Barings Real Estate)
The asset management function is always integral to long-term value creation in real estate, but the COVID-19 crisis has served as a fresh reminder of just how crucial this role is for navigating challenging conditions.
The spread of COVID-19 across the globe and the rippling effects across all geographies have left no segment of the economy untouched. Real estate markets are no exception. From deserted office buildings to shuttered storefronts and empty hotels, the impact has been more severe than many investors’ downside scenario analyses would have predicted. Yet, global real estate markets still offer potentially attractive returns over the long term—across a wide variety of sectors and risk types—if investors can effectively navigate the current storm. Critical to this effort are the asset managers themselves—also known as the “eyes on the asset.”
In this episode, John Kennedy and Rob Little of Barings Real Estate talk about lessons learned and emerging best practices for the post-COVID future of asset management in real estate.
This podcast is based on the article “Asset Management During Crisis” from Summit Journal (Summer 2020). Read the full article here.
FEATURING
John Kennedy is a member of Barings Real Estate, a global real estate platform with extensive capabilities across both debt and equity strategies. John is a Managing Director and Head of Real Estate Asset Management – US, responsible for the investment performance and strategic direction of all office, retail, industrial and multifamily assets across the US. In addition, he serves on the Barings Real Estate US Private Equity Investment Committee. Prior to this current role, John served as the Real Estate Regional Director – Western Region, where he was responsible for supervising all activities in connection with a diversified regional portfolio including acquisitions, asset management and dispositions. John has worked in the industry since 1989. Prior to joining the firm in 2001, John worked at Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, Inc., where he was a Vice President in charge of asset management, property management and leasing. John holds a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Northwestern University. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute.
Rob Little, CFA, is a member of Barings Real Estate, a global real estate platform with extensive capabilities across both debt and equity strategies. Rob is Head of Real Estate Debt Underwriting and Servicing and oversees all credit, underwriting, and servicing functions across Barings’ public and private debt portfolios, including Core, Structured, and Agency lending programs. He is also chair of the Barings Global Real Estate Debt Investment Committee, and serves on the Barings Real Estate U.S. Private Equity Investment Committee. Prior to his current role, Rob oversaw the Real Estate group’s core lending activities, and previously had responsibilities that included structured high yield real estate lending and capital markets. Rob has worked in the industry since 1987. Prior to joining the firm in 2000, Rob was a member of MassMutual’s Investment Management Division. Rob holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Bates College. He is a member of the CFA Institute and holds the Chartered Realty Investor designation. He also is a member of the Mortgage Bankers Association, the Hartford Society of Financial Analysts and serves on the board of the real estate subsidiary of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
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