Charles, and enthusiastic and experienced PRS fund manager has been active through Fairhurst Associates since 1994. He founded Fairbridge, an institutional PRS investment fund,  in June 2001. The fund exit completed in October 2016. Charles ran this PRS fund from cradle to grave: from funding, sourcing and managing suitable stock, tenants and costs to the exit route.

Charles  has in-depth understanding of the letting and investment side, the parties in the market and what to buy where. He also has a thorough grip on the numerous regulations and legislations impacting on institutional PRS activity.

Charles has a great overview of the Institutional PRS but is also strong on detail, so you can ask him almost anything and receive a detailed answer back. With his friendly, calm and humorous nature he makes a wonderful trainer and consultant who is very keen to share his knowledge and experience with you.

Specialisms: UK PRS (Multi-Family) fund management & PRS investment, governance, regulation & compliance, strategy, asset management, property management.

Cléo is CEO of Property Overview and also provides training herself, building on her wide-ranging experience. Cléo’s motivation to improve knowledge and transparency in the global real estate industry stems from her wide-ranging experience spanning 25 years across commercial and residential property.

Cléo worked for a SWF for 9 years. Before that she worked across a variety of surveying firms, an investment advisory/brokerage firm and Private Equity. At Terra Firma/Vonovia she focussed on the German Private Rented Sector as a consultant and change manager. Cleo also set up indexes and services at IPD (now part of MSCI). 

She is most proud of her consultancy and change management work and of structuring the investment process for a sovereign fund. Cléo’s teaching methodology is based on her deep understanding of real estate, practical experience and excellent communication skills coupled with patience and enthusiasm.

Cléo speaks fluent English, Dutch and German. She holds an MA in Economic Geography, is a CAIA charter holder and a Trustee of the International Ethics Standards Coalition (IESC). Past Chair and current active committee member of the Society of Property Researchers (SPR) and RE:Women, Cléo is an influential thought-leader in real estate research, investment strategy and diversity & inclusion.

Specialisms: Property research & strategy, transactions, investment brokerage / consultancy, CRE & PRS, change management, systems, index construction, benchmarking, performance analysis, aspects of asset management, board reporting, investment committee, consultancy.

Kate Gimblet is an economist and investment strategist, with property, currency, bond and equity experience. She thus holds a multi-asset view including real estate and RE risk.  Kate works as an independent consultant to businesses, financial institutions and industry bodies since 2000. Kate produced major reports for the IPF, IPD (MSCI) and the ULI amongst others.

Her focus is international financial and property markets. Previously Kate worked in fund management as a Partner in charge of international fixed-income and currency strategy. At Gartmore she was in charge of communicating asset allocation strategy to international institutional clients. Earlier financial market roles include International Bond Strategist and Senior UK Equity Strategist.

Kate’s career started in Washington D.C. working at the IMF, the IFC (World Bank Group) and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Kate also did post graduate research in financial economics. At Oxford University (Corpus Christi College) her research focused on emerging market debt flows.

Specialisms: CRE lending markets, RE development finance, asset allocation, alternative lending & private debt markets, supervisory slotting for RE, benchmarking, risk analysis & risk management, currency risk analysis, survey construction and delivery, international bond markets, equity market strategy.

Robin, a practising chartered surveyor, has worked in real estate for over 45 years. For 20 of those years Robin worked in a senior role within LaSalle Investment Management’s highly respected Global Research & Strategy team. There he instigated LaSalle’s investment in the UK PRS in the late 1990s. He was active in managing those investments (both direct and indirect) and promoting institutional investment in the sector. He did this through his leadership of the IPF’s Residential Special Interest Group. This played a major role in getting BTR to its current level of interest.

Robin is a highly experienced trainer. He has presented on a wide range of real estate topics around the world to both practitioners and students. He is a visiting professor at the University of Aberdeen Business School. Robin regularly lectures on courses at Cambridge, ESSEC (Paris), Reading and Zurich universities.

Specialisms: Property research & strategy, Commercial Real Estate (CRE), residential (PRS / BTR), institutional investment, investment strategy, UK & Continental European property, governance, board reporting, investment committees.

Matthew is a retail intelligence veteran, co-author of the Grimsey Reviews I and II, Visiting Professor at UCL, Co-Founder of Didobi. Previously of LDC and CoStar/FOCUS.

At Didobi he advises on the implementation, visualisation, interpretation and monetisation of data assets. Between 2009-2017 he established The Local Data Company as the UK’s go to source for retail data and insight. Prior to this Matthew worked as the Operations Director for CoStar Group in the UK. He worked for FOCUS (Property Intelligence) from 1997 to 2003.

Matthew is a well-respected and trusted commentator on UK retailing and its places. He is a regular contributor to national and trade media outlets. As a co-author on both Grimsey Reviews (2013, 2018) he has clear views on an alternative future for the high street.

Matthew is a friendly and knowledgeable tutor. Visiting Professor at University College London. He sits on the Research Advisory Board of Nottingham Business School. In addition he is a volunteer business mentor for The Prince’s Trust in the East Midlands.

Specialisms: Retail, retail property, high street, data, operations, data systems, business development, marketing, technology, PropTech, consultancy.

Nicole has more than 15 years’ worth of experience in real estate finance. Nicole is a Senior Research Fellow – Project Director – Property Lending Research at Cass Business School. Before this she was a Research Fellow at De Montfort University.

Nicole worked previously as a Vice President within the loan re-structuring and workout division at Deutsche Bank and Deutsche Postbank. She also held positions in European CMBS loan origination at Citigroup and real estate structured finance ratings at Moody’s Investor Service.

Nicole is currently the author of the UK Commercial Property Lending Report, the most comprehensive report into commercial property lending in the UK comprising lending data on loan terms from 70+ lenders. She holds a PhD from the University of Reading.

Specialisms: Property lending, deal execution, risk & recovery specialist: RE debt sourcing & structuring, finance & funding advice or analysis, NPL work-out strategies, CMBS loan origination, rating for CMBS/CRE loans, Basel II IRBA, deal & loan structuring, index construction, benchmarking, aspects of asset management, RE debt consultancy & advisory.

Andrew Moffat is a highly respected and experienced Institutional PRS investment manager. He started in 1987 in property finance. In addition he has experience in Build-to-Rent (BTR) construction. Andrew ran an Institutional UK PRS fund at HSBC from 2002. In 2012 this fund was successfully realised. After this he joined PGIM. There he helped set up their residential development and BTR capability.

Andrew is experienced in raising funding, arranging finance, sourcing or building suitable PRS stock, managing and selling Institutional PRS stock (i.e. the exit route).

Andrew is currently active as a consultant. He also trains and coaches people in this booming but under-skilled property sector. He is enthusiastic about working in and promoting the PRS. In addition, he is keen to train up a new generation of skilled employees and investment managers in the UK Private Rented Sector.

Specialisms: UK PRS fund management & PRS investment, BTR design, BTR development, RE debt, finance & funding advice / analysis, governance, regulation & compliance, strategy, asset management, property management, consultancy.

Jonathan is an experienced lender to UK real estate and other forms of asset backed lending, and has dealt in-depth with valuations. He brings flair and enthusiasm to unlock debt for borrowers, using his experience gained in both Business Development and Risk.

He is an advocate of the problem-solving approach to business, developed at the entrepreneurial United Bank of Kuwait plc.

This proved valuable when he worked at the more institutional Lloyds Bank in the noughties, setting up the Risk team to support the big-ticket property lending business, before returning to a business development role. When tested in the GFC his loan book was one of the cleanest books in the City.

He has always been involved in transaction execution, reviewing documentation and valuations, to ensure that the deal approved and the deal done correspond. He remains an enthusiastic trainer, improving the understanding of the property sector for graduates at Lloyds and taking the Development Finance session of CREFC’s Executive Education Conference.

He remains active in the property sector as a NED for a local authority-backed PRS business. This sees him reviewing company strategy and investment decisions.

Specialisms: Structuring & arranging development debt across property types (including residential and alternatives: PRS, PBSA and senior living), valuations, designing rating models, developing strategy and marketing plans for growing sectors within RE, training senior lenders on property as an asset class and how to lend, sovereign and banking sector analysis

Lance Stanbury is a shopping centre expert with 25+ years experience in UK, EMEA & Asia. Expert in mall design, retail property asset management and training.

Lance regularly delivers shopping centre management master classes throughout Far East & Asia & EMEA through Mall Consultants. He founded this consultancy in 2008, servicing international retail property owners.

Mall Consultants deliver mall design guidance, tenant mix strategy, risk management, staff recruitment & training, marketing, launches, retailer coordination, devising operational procedures, facility management and on-going asset management.

Prior to this Lance was European Shopping Centre Development Director for Cushman & Wakefield. There he directed the pre-opening management set-up of schemes in Turkey, Poland, Hungary, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Albania and Syria. He started his career opening and operating malls in the UK.

Lance holds diplomas in Shopping Centre Management and Leisure Management from the College of Estate Management.

Specialisms: retail, shopping centres, shopping malls, asset management, development consultancy, consultancy, design advice, shopping mall operations, shopping centre marketing, training, recruitment

Kaushik Shah is a property professional with 27+ years of European real estate experience. Expert in  property investment management with operating company senior management experience.

A significant part of his time – 17 years in fact – was in senior roles with PGIM Real Estate. This global RE investment management business provided exposure to private-equity style JV  /investee company boards. These property operating companies in the UK and Europe were invested in as part of the merchant banking opportunity funds business.

In his role as COO for the European business he was responsible for a wide remit. This included boards & operating governance, business & organisation change management, business strategy and business planning, operational risk management, HR planning, regulatory developments & compliance implementation and information systems/technology.

Before PGIM Kaushik was Finance Director of a UK property investment, trading & development company.

Kaushik is able to provide practical, realistic and broad ranging insights. This applies to consultancy as well as training.

He is in tune with the learning and development needs of property professionals. His aim is to enhance their skills, knowledge and confidence in a complex environment.

Specialisms: Real estate operating company, institutional real investment management, investment and operating risk management, business planning, governance, regulatory & compliance, cash flows, accounting.

Philip Walker is a RICS Registered Valuer with European-wide experience working for a variety of clients. These include major commercial consultancies, debt and equity investors, banks and family trusts. He covers the UK and continental European commercial property markets.

Until 2014 Philip was an External Examiner for the BSc Land Management and Valuation courses at the University of Reading.  He is also the immediate past chairman of the Argus/Circle Investor User Group, a task he fulfilled for 15 years from 1996.

Philip is also on the RICS Red Book Editorial Board. The ‘red book’ is the handbook that governs the mandatory valuation standards for Chartered Surveyors operating throughout the world.

Philip aims to present well researched and independent advice, including valuations, in his day-to-day job. For the course ‘understanding valuations’ he aims to provide insight and clarity on the basics of valuation methods and procedures, and the jargon involved.

Like all trainers, Philip is friendly, approachable and patient, and with real enthusiasm for the profession and its future. This is something he hopes will rub off somewhat on the course attendees.

Specialisms: Property valuations, UK and continental Europe, valuation audit, consulting

Maria Wiedner’s focus is on building cash flow models and practical applications of financial models to property investment. Maria’s passion for property markets is built on specialist roles. Her background includes the quantitative fields of property derivatives, renewable energy and the analysis of REITs.

Her specialist property experience is enhanced by formal training. Maria holds an MA in real estate finance from the University of Cambridge. In addition she is a CFA Charterholder.  She recently became a member of the RICS.

Over the last few years Maria focussed on the theory and practice of real estate financial modelling. She is a great believer in building models to test assumptions and providing insight into risk and reward. She devises and run training courses, latterly for Cambridge Finance, which she founded in December 2015. Maria also provides training via the RICS, whilst Cambridge Finance is RICS regulated.

In 2012 Maria founded the diversity group for real estate, Real Estate Women (RE:Women). She relentlessly advocates for equality and more representation of minorities in senior positions in the property industry.

Like all our team members Maria is available as a consultant as well as a trainer.

Specialisms: Financial modelling, index construction, energy & resources, property derivatives, REITs, CRE debt theory, consultancy