166 Industry Leaders Attend Inaugural Mingtiandi Australia Forum in Sydney
Some 166 senior executives gathered at the Four Seasons Sydney for the inaugural Mingtiandi Australia Forum, featuring 31 speakers across nine sessions on cross-border real estate opportunities. The event, sponsored by Yardi, drew delegates from Singapore, Hong Kong, London and the UAE, with more th
Some 166 senior executives gathered at the Four Seasons Sydney on Tuesday for the inaugural Mingtiandi Australia Forum, as investors, developers and operators from across Asia Pacific took in a full day of interviews and panel discussions on strategies for capturing Australia's cross-border real estate opportunities.
The forum, sponsored by Yardi, marked Mingtiandi's first event in Australia. It brought together 31 speakers across three spotlight interviews and six panel discussions, with delegates travelling from Singapore, Hong Kong, London and the UAE to join a Sydney-heavy crowd.
The day opened with a spotlight interview with Brad Collier, head of diversified funds at Dexus and manager of the Dexus Wholesale Fund, which has A$13 billion ($9.3 billion) in assets and invests across the office, retail and industrial sectors. Later in the morning, Charter Hall direct property chief executive Steve Bennett sat down with Mingtiandi founder Michael Cole for a one-on-one discussion on opportunities to invest in life science real estate in Australia, after the company last month raised a fund to invest in a medical diagnostics facility in Queensland.
In the final spotlight session, Peter Menegazzo, chief executive of Sydney-based fund manager Investa, spoke on where his team sees opportunity in the Australian market after putting together deals with international investors including BGO, Oxford Properties, Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets, Manulife Investment Management and a Southeast Asian sovereign wealth fund.
Blackstone, Brookfield, Warburg Pincus, Oxford Properties Group, Macquarie Asset Management and Canadian pension manager La Caisse were among the global names in the room, with more than 700 viewers tuning in for the livestream. Attendees and viewers on MTD TV also took in panel discussions covering hospitality investment, industrial, build-to-rent residential, student housing and senior living strategies, commercial markets and cross-border capital flows from Asia into Australia.
All nine sessions from the forum are being covered in dedicated stories published on Mingtiandi this week, complete with full recordings available for viewing. With Sydney complete, Mingtiandi will next head to Japan for the third annual Mingtiandi Tokyo Forum, set for 10 November at the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo, where more than 250 guests are expected.
Confirmed speakers at the Tokyo Forum include representatives of fund managers Mitsui Fudosan, Barings, Alyssa Partners, Integral Real Estate, Cabot Real Estate, Pro-invest Group and Arch Capital. Also on the roster are hotel investment specialists AB Capital Investment and Axe Management Partners as well as residential manager Dash Living. Top executives from Hilton, IHG and Marriott will also take the stage.
