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Event Recap: ULI UK Young Leaders Lunch & Learn with Ralph Rosenberg
Read a summary of the recent virtual Lunch & Learn with Ralph Rosenberg, held on 4 May, by ULI UK Young Leaders Co-Chair Mariya Tsvetkova.
Event Recap: ULI UK Young Leaders Lunch & Learn with Brad Dockser
22 May 2020
The ULI UK Young Leaders were delighted to have Brad Dockser from Washington, DC join us for a virtual lunch & learn.
Brad started his career at JMB followed by extensive international investment experience starting Starwood Capital in both Europe and Asia. In 2011 he recognised that there was an opportunity for a real estate investment focused approach to energy savings in buildings.
Most consultants and product marketers in the space would talk about payback in vague terms, whereas Brad talked in an “adjective free zone” using months, yields, and money to explain the value.
GreenGen looks for energy opportunities that provide savings (to the landlord/tenant), help to lease space, direct TI money into systems, and are overall accretive on cap rates. The business areas include property, solutions, data analytics (Emerald) and offsets. About 20% of his clients are public sector organisations including the US Army and the British Government. His private clients included some of the people on the webinar!
To register for the next Lunch & Learn and other upcoming events, visit the UK Digital Programme page here.
Recently, GreenGen has started a ventures business which has made three investments in the last year. The businesses include Datakwip (cloud based data monitoring), Senseware (IoT analytics), and Wynd (Measuring and monetizing air quality).
He emphasised that the trend towards ESG is accelerating for two reasons:
- ESG drives financial outcomes; and,
- LPs are making it clear that GPs must have an ESG policy.
Brad encouraged us all to think more broadly about stakeholders. Rather than black swan events, we are now faced with the “green swan” of the climate crisis. This threat is existential and will last much longer than any other crisis. Sustainability is simply good business.