A snapshot of the year that was.
Oil and commodity prices continue their slump and manufacturing is experiencing some challenges. Geopolitical instability is shaking global markets as uncertainty abounds. Where are U.S. and Canadian interest rates likely to be heading in 2019? This presentation will examine the economic outlook for Canada including GDP and employment growth; interest, currency and inflation rates; energy and commodity prices over the rest of the year, and the implications for household and government balance sheets.
Benjamin Tal, Managing Director & Deputy Chief Economist, CIBC Capital Markets
Advances in AI and machine learning mean profound opportunities for innovation and investment. How will AI drop the cost of prediction and change entire industries? Why is it important for companies to develop AI strategies? This presentation will approach AI’s potential from the perspective of economics. It will look at the impact of AI on the both Canadian economy and the commercial real estate industry, including what is driving demand for space within our sector.
Ajay Agrawal, Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning Expert, Founder of the Creative Destruction Lab,
Author of Prediction Machines
With stock markets and business confidence in flux, the Canadian commercial real estate market stands out for its relative stability. however, technology, geopolitical and socioeconomic factors are reshaping the industry. Interest rate increases are putting pressure on cap rates and emphasizing the importance of operating income. Tech companies continue to drive change and demand for space. What impact will increase construction costs have on development? Will a softening housing market have broader implications? How do you plan for the next cycle when it will be driven by companies and technologies that are emergent? This presentation will examine both the challenges and opportunities presented by our changing world.
Paul Morassutti, Vice Chairman, CBRE Limited
Senior executives from banking, pension funds, and investment management capital markets will discuss their strategies for optimizing returns in 2019 and beyond in today’s increasingly unpredictable and more volatile business environment. What is different today than a year ago? What are some external issues on the horizon that could impact global financial markets? Where do they expect to be allocating resources – both capital and human – and why? What risks vs. opportunities are emerging at this time? How strong are capital flows likely to be into the real estate and debt markets? Where will capital move if interest rates continue to rise?
Kay Brekken
Amber Choudhry
Ritson Ferguson
Blake Hutcheson
Benjamin Tal
Mary Vitug
Moderators:
Kay Brekken, Executive Vice President & CFO, First Capital Realty
Amber Choudhry, Managing Director, Debt Capital Markets, CIBC Capital Markets
Panel:
Ritson Ferguson, Global Chief Executive Officer, CBRE Global Investors
Blake Hutcheson, President & Chief Pension Officer, OMERS
Benjamin Tal, Managing Director & Deputy Chief Economist, CIBC Capital Markets
Mary Vitug, Managing Director, Equity Capital Markets Group, Scotiabank
A cross-section of major Canadian commercial lenders will provide an update on their underwriting practices and deployment of debt capital in 2019. What issues are major lenders beginning to face at this time? What are their strategies for this year? Questions they will address include:
Michael Waters
Peter Block
Phil Gillin
Rod Hunt
Roy Lall
Ken McKinnon
Moderator:
Michael Waters, Chief Executive Officer, Minto Apartment REIT & The Minto Group
Panel:
Peter Block, Market Vice President & Head, Real Estate Corporate Banking, CIBC
Phil Gillin, Senior Managing Director, Sun Life Investment Management
Rod Hunt, Managing Director, Real Estate Lending, Business Financing Products, Royal Bank of Canada
Roy Lall, Senior Director & Team Head, Real Estate Lending, Otéra Capital
Ken McKinnon, Managing Director & Head, Real Estate Corporate Banking, TD Securities
As we enter the latter innings of this bull run on real estate, do macro fundamentals still matter or is it now all about the micro characteristics of a particular deal? An insightful discussion with a cross section of providers and borrowers of capital as it pertains to underwriting particular property types, different geographic markets, and the importance of asset management strategies. Are all industrial and multi-residential opportunities good, and all retail ones bad? What about underwriting development activity? Are Toronto and Vancouver priced to perfection while Montreal has much more upside? Under what criteria does Calgary or Edmonton office make sense? Do lenders and borrowers share similar views on the risks and opportunities, and how they should be priced?
Colin Johnston
Sarah Esler
Paul Miron
Paul Scholz
Peter Sweeney
Vlad Volodarski
Moderator:
Colin Johnston, President, Research Valuation & Advisory, Altus Group
Panel:
Sarah Esler, Portfolio Manager, Mortgage Investments, Alberta Investment Management Corp.
Paul Miron, Senior Counsel, Product Director, Commercial Solutions, FCT
Paul Scholz, Managing Director, Credit & Risk, Institutional Mortgage Capital
Peter Sweeney, Chief Financial Officer, SmartCentres REIT
Vlad Volodarski, Chief Financial Officer & CIO, Chartwell Retirement Residences
Given the billions of dollars seeking access to the yield and cash flow produced by property assets, real estate funds have been very popular products for institutional and retail investors. As a result, there is a growing proliferation of investment management funds and the key roles they play in real estate debt and equity financing. What is the DNA of these funds? How do you attract investors and broaden your client base? What rates of return are your investors requiring? Are we in a new reality of lower returns for the long term? Are investors focused on core and core plus, or are some prepared to move up the risk ladder? How do your clients feel about development? Are you able to attract foreign capital for domestic Canadian investments? Have regulatory parameters affected changes in how capital is raised and deployed in real estate market?
Richard Brownscombe
Ishbel Buchan
Pierre Leonard
Sandy Poklar
Greg Vorwaller
Moderator:
Richard Brownscombe, President & CEO, Montrose Winnipeg
Panel:
Ishbel Buchan, Senior Vice President, Investments, ACM Advisors
Pierre Leonard, Former Managing Partner, Romspen Investment Corporation
Sandy Poklar, COO & Managing Director, Capital Markets & Strategic Developments, Firm Capital Corporation
Greg Vorwaller, President, Trez Capital
This panel will examine the trends and issues related to raising debt, credit and capital from the perspectives of REITs and private equity funds. How are they managing their balance sheets in this very competitive and rising interest rate environment? Among the questions that will be addressed:
Heather Kirk
Lesley Gibson
Nitin Jain
Anna Kennedy
Qi Tang
Moderator:
Heather Kirk, EVP & Chief Financial Officer, Cominar REIT
Panel:
Lesley Gibson, SVP & Chief Financial Officer, CT REIT
Nitin Jain, Chief Financial Officer & CIO, Sienna Seniors Living
Anna Kennedy, COO & Chief Financial Officer, KingSett Capital
Qi Tang, SVP & Chief Financial Officer, RioCan REIT
Aside from major financial institutions, pension funds and lifecos, key roles in the Canadian lending environment are being assumed by foreign banks, private equity funds, smaller banks and credit unions among others. This session will examine their activities in the commercial mortgage market. What are their primary markets? Are they predominately focused on transactions and properties that have financing needs in the range of $20M or less? Why is Canada gaining interest from U.S. banks again? What are the loan origination and underwriting strategies of these lenders, e.g. preferably to whom, in which markets, and for what property classes? How is risk being priced? What are your spreads, amortization periods, LTV ratios, and recourse? What is the market for B and C class properties that could be out of favour with major lenders?
Jeff Cox
Vince Faustini
Jim Gardiner
Blair McCreadie
Jim Ward
Moderator:
Jeff Cox, Vice President, Murray & Company Limited
Panel:
Vince Faustini, Regional Vice President, Commercial Mortgage Origination, Equitable Bank
Jim Gardiner, Regional Vice President, Commercial Services, Meridian
Blair McCreadie, Executive Vice President & CORE Fund Manager, Fiera Properties
Jim Ward, Senior Vice President, Wells Fargo Bank N.A. – Canada
An ongoing debate for years now is whether the Vancouver and Toronto housing markets have peaked and how much of a correction can we expect. To what degree have condominium developers overextended themselves with too many projects in any Canadian markets? As a lender, how high is your level of caution and risk assessment in construction lending activities? How does did vary from city to city and among specific asset classes? This session will offer some insights on these and other questions on what may lie ahead for the financing of condominium, mixed-use and other developments for 2019. What are lenders’ pre-sale or pre-leasing and covenant requirements and where will they be heading in the next twelve months? How are lenders pricing risk for this type of financing? What underwriting practices are they using to evaluate projects? What are the challenges in financing mixed-use developments vs. single asset buildings?
Dale Noseworthy
Leonard Damiani
Rob Harvey
David McCrossan
Noah Mintz
Moderator:
Dale Noseworthy, Chief Financial Officer, Killam Apartment REIT
Panel:
Leonard Damiani, Senior Director & Team Head, Real Estate Lending, Otéra Capital
Rob Harvey, Regional Vice President, Real Estate Financing, Laurentian Bank of Canada
David McCrossan, Director, Investment Management, Development Finance Team, MCAP
Noah Mintz, Managing Director & Principal, Vector Financial Services
Technological innovation is changing the world at unprecedented speed and the real estate market and industry are not exempt. Blockchain distributed ledger and cryptocurrency technologies are revolutionizing equity fundraising, financial services, and a variety of commercial transactions and operations. Artificial intelligence and its close relative machine learning are beginning to be used in all aspects of real estate including financing and investing. Concurrent developments in Fintech are creating other important considerations, involving cutting-edge technologies, information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructures and novel business models. This session will provide some valuable insights on all these important emerging trends.
Amy Erixon
Hugh McKee
Matthew Spoke
Dariush Zomorrodi
Moderator:
Amy Erixon, Principal, Managing Director, Investments, Avison Young
Panel:
Hugh McKee, Vice President, Head, BMO Partners, BMO Financial Group
Matthew Spoke, Founder, Aion
Dariush Zomorrodi, Chief Innovation Officer, Blanc Labs
Lending practices of major banks have been affected by the plethora of policies issued by OFSI, Basel III’s regulatory framework, CMHC mortgage insurance changes and BOC monetary policies. The session will open with a brief overview of a national annual survey of Canadian commercial mortgage market activity. It will show how secondary sources of capital are playing an increasingly important role in commercial real estate financing today. This session will examine the trends, availability, and cost of debt from these alternative sources. How are they able to compete successfully vs. major banks? Why is there a growth in A/B/C type structures and syndications? Why are deal sizes much larger? What are their loan origination and underwriting strategies, e.g. preferably to whom, in which markets, and for what property classes? How is risk being priced? How often and under what circumstances do they offer mezzanine and equity financing?
Doug Milne
Sam Brown
Scott Coates
Jeremy Wedgbury
Alan Winer
Moderator:
Doug Milne, Managing Partner, Canada ICI Capital Corporation
Panel:
Sam Brown, Vice President & Managing Director, CMLS Financial
Scott Coates, Group Head, Mortgage Investments, KingSett Capital
Jeremy Wedgbury, Senior Vice President, Commercial Mortgages, First National Financial LP
Alan Winer, Co-Founder & CEO, The Harbour Group
An insightful discussion about investment activity in today’s very competitive market environment. The panel will address a range of questions including: What will likely be the major challenges in order to buy or sell assets in the Canadian market during 2019? What are the differences between the issues faced by a REIT vs. a pension fund vs. a private equity fund in selling or acquiring properties at this time? Which gateway cities or mid-markets are most attractive for investment? How are you financing your investment programs going forward? Where do you predict Canadian cap rates be by the end of 2019 relative to today’s prices? Who do you anticipate will be the likely sellers? Which property classes will be most favoured? Will shifting bond yields and rising interest rates affect your strategies and, if so, in what way?
Peter Senst
Robert Armstrong
Duncan Osborne
Jordan Robins
Greg Sweeney
Moderator:
Peter Senst, President, Canadian Capital Markets, CBRE Limited
Panel:
Robert Armstrong, Managing Director, Slate Asset Management L.P.
Duncan Osborne, Executive Vice President, Investments, The Cadillac Fairview Corporation Limited
Jordan Robins, Executive Vice President & COO, First Capital Realty
Greg Sweeney, Managing Director & Head of Canadian Real Estate Investments, Manulife Real Estate
An insightful discussion with a diversified group of senior real estate executives on their perspective for Canadian and global real estate fundamentals, trends, and strategies for 2019. How will Canada perform relative to the U.S., Europe and other markets? What will be key challenges facing real estate executives over the next twelve months? What are their expectations of the capital and credit markets in supporting their portfolio growth? What trend do they expect for Canadian interest rates, bond yields and the cost of capital? What impact will this have on cap rates and real estate values? Which cities are attracting their attention due to employment growth? What are they seeing in capital, financial and real estate markets outside of Canada? To what extent are assets now fully priced in major Canada markets or are they still attractive to investors? Is investing outside of the country is more attractive than staying at home? How much importance are they placing on ESG issues, particularly with the growth of TFCD and other environmental related policies?
Kay Brekken
Amber Choudhry
David Arthur
Jane Gavan
Kevan Gorrie
Kevin Leon
Paul Zemla
Moderators:
Kay Brekken, Executive Vice President & CFO, First Capital Realty
Amber Choudhry, Managing Director, Debt Capital Markets, CIBC Capital Markets
Panel:
David Arthur, Managing Partner, Brookfield Property Group
Jane Gavan, President & CEO, Dream Global REIT
Kevan Gorrie, President & CEO, Granite REIT
Kevin Leon, President, Crestpoint Real Estate Investments Ltd.
Paul Zemla, President, Investment Management & CIO, Bentall Kennedy (Canada) LP