·         Real estate economics (market forces, land value growth and market cycles)

·         Impacts of globalisation on investing strategies

·         How technology is transforming real estate

·         How securitisation expansion changes real estate investing strategies

·         Real estate as a portfolio component – How it affects the risk return profile of your portfolio

·         The new role of real estate in a diversified portfolio

·         How to prosper through mastering real estate economic forces

·         Case study discussions on property investing strategies

Hosted by:

• Are higher yields fuelling the sector? Identifying and selecting best opportunities
• Enticing investors by increasing the investors’ yield, IRR and liquidity expectations - What are on offer?
• Evaluating property asset types – Gauging yields of factories, offices, apartments and villas
• Going towards GCC borders and beyond – Jordan and Morocco, the ‘hidden’ treasures of MENA

·         Under the microscope: A closer look into the middle income housing developments in the Gulf Cooperation Council

·         The economics of real estate: Balancing between market demands and public- and private-sector supplies

·         Bull’s eye: the importance of identifying and understanding target markets

·         Working within and around cross-boundary regulatory challenges

·         Going Forward - the future of Middle East real estate development

• Understanding the value and importance of a diversified portfolio of targeted markets and assets in achieving excellent returns on investments
• Establishing and cultivating the right partnerships with the world’s best investment companies
•  Asian Real Estate – how attractive is it? Looking at the Asian economic boom and government support for foreign direct investments.

·         Looking outside extraordinary growth for excellent financial returns – the ease and complexities of financial restructing and engineering

·         Keeping the ends in mind while justifying the means – balancing long-term strategies with shareholders’ short-term expectations

·         R&R in real estate investment management – Risks & Returns evaluated

·         From Park Avenue to Trafalgar Square to the Palm – the value of going global in real estate investment management

·         Exploring the interest and implications of the governments’ measures to boost the market

·         What are the macro-economic controls in place and what is the likely impact on inflow of investments?

·         Role of the GCC regulators in developing and encouraging a wider range of capital financing instruments

·         Curbing the effects of property speculation and overbuilding

·         What further reforms are necessary to drive real estate investments in the GCC upwards?

·         Understanding Sha’riah and how it affects the real estate sector and related investments

·         Highlighting opportunities in complying to Sha’riah for international investors in the Middle East

·         Overcoming the hurdles in understanding Sha’riah requirements

·         Harmonising the Sha’riah interpretations across countries’ boundaries

·         Learning from Westscheme’s Superannuation Fund’s investing objectives, strategies and outcomes

·         Meeting the bottom line with creative and global investment strategies

·         Trends and appetite for Real Estate investments within the Australian Superannuation Fund industry.

·         Understanding key issues – structues, strategy, implementation and performance

·         Determining critical success factors

·         Market outlook and recommendations for institutional investors

·         Making sense of a booming market

·         How did the market get here and what next?

·         What funding mechamisms would become necessary or will the market stick with equity?

• Determining key factors for successful developments
• Analysing key risks and appropriate mitigation strategies
• Identifying capital raising strategies for real estate developments
• Insight into Europe’s biggest development – the Renault project, Paris

·         Determining the critieria to use when deciding on weighting of real estate investment portfolio

·         Evaluating optimal allocation between

• Direct and indirect investments
• Different vertical sectors
• Different geographical markets

·         Predicting how real estate investment vehicles will impact future asset allocation decisions

·         Reviewing the performance of real estate funds in comparison to other investment alternatives.

·         Typical cost structures of indirect investment vehicles.

·         Establishing the attractiveness of investing in real estate investment vehicle

·         Assessing the appealing factors for the Middle Easterns and international investors

·         Comparing the pros and cons of increasing the investors’ indirect and direct real estate exposure

·         Difference between retail and institutional investors – which is your market?

·         To be or not to be, that is the question – Should you be Shari’ah compliance? Will it added value to the investors?

·         Paving down the groundwork – what need to be done first?

·         Examining the difference between the conventional and Islamic REIT

·         Due diligence – Ensuring the proportion rentals from the operations of non-permissible activities to the total turnover – is it that simple?

·         Role of takaful in Islamic REITs

·         A reality check on Middle East REITs

·         Roadblock – does the wall of capital heading for real estate combined with lack of underlying products mean there is trouble ahead?

·         Conventional versus Islamic REITs – what are the differences and their pros and cons?

·         What makes REITs work – identifying economic and industry factors that affect REITs growth

·         Crystal clarity – Why should a pension fund invest in any other types of unlisted vehicles?

• Investor reactions to the fund in the past 12 months – where did the fund come from geographically?
• What methods are proving successful?
• The fund raising process: documentation, presentation, due diligence, closing
• Effective methods for accessing this capital - how are you reaching investors?

• Reviewing the performance and growth potential of the various sectors
• Which sectors are capital-rich and which are capital starved?
• Where and what are the opportunities in elsewhere in the world? What are the risks?
• Strategies property developers employ: Which assets should be securitized, which assets should be disposed of, which should be considered to be put in REITs?

• Increasing popularity of real estate funds fuels by the low lending rates and fragmented and competitive banking 
• Outlining the progress of the Middle East‘s mortgage market
• The providers - the importance of the banks
• The proliferation of Islamic mortgages – a global view
• Developing a  mortgage culture for a new type of customer – the investor

Key issues to be discussed include:

• Opportunities for Islamic investors in the Middle East
• Islamic concepts of fund management
• Examining the principles of Islamic investing when applied to real estate
• Practical issues involved in fund establishment
• Assessing the composition and selection of Shari’ah advisors
• Separating marketing and distribution functions
• Selecting and using appropriate benchmarks
• REITs – concepts and how they differ from sukuks
• Local market indices
• Determining the distribution channels and fee structures
• Legal and tax issues to be considered
• Risk management issues