Kindly hosted by Blackstone, February’s Lunch & Learn session offered the UK Young Leaders a chance to engage with James Seppala – Partner and Head of Europe Real Estate Acquisitions at Blackstone.

The heavily subscribed event started with a round table of introductions which revealed a varied young leader attendee range in terms of backgrounds and length of tenure in the property industry. James spoke about his own career starting from graduating in 2001 from Harvard College and subsequently joining Goldman Sachs, where he spent 10 years before moving to Blackstone.

The discussion moved to the general market sentiment and whether the opinion was that of being at the ‘top of the market’ or whether there is still room before reaching the peak. The view was that with Europe on the whole experiencing limited GDP growth, the Day 1 acquisition price becomes increasingly important, and buying at a low basis is extremely advantageous. James also made the comparison between his experience when working in the US relative to Europe, in which European asset management initiatives are increasingly important in order to drive NOI growth and value creation.

Questions and concerns were discussed, ranging from Brexit, Immigration challenges, and Government initiatives whereby despite slight uncertainties on political factors, the sentiment remained positive, with the thought amongst most around the table was that Brexit was an unlikely outcome.

James was also asked about Blackstone’s preferred sectors, where they remain confident particularly about logistics, due to the ever-changing habits of the consumer. It was interesting to hear how they operate a city focused strategy with a focus on the metropolises rather on specific countries and with a preference for cities with strong demographics.

Everyone in the room was delighted that James shared his experience and views of the market and the many opportunities and dynamics to watch out for in the near future. A big thank you to James for making time to meet us all and answer our questions.

Words by Anoushka Gohil