Harvard joins ArborCrowd to host panel for commercial real estate investing

The panel was attended by graduate students interested in pursuing a career in commercial real estate.

Late November, Harvard University’s Real Estate Development Club together with ArborCrowd, one of the first crowdfunding platforms launched by a real estate institution, hosted a panel of experts at Harvard University to discuss the future of commercial real estate investing.

ArborCrowd Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer Adam Kaufman was joined on stage by a diverse group of professionals, including David T. Locke, Senior Vice President Wealth Advisor and Family Wealth Director at Morgan Stanley; Stephen King, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Imbrex; and Boris Vallee, Associate Professor at Harvard Business School. The engaging discussion, which covered the methods in which technology, regulatory changes and the growth of alternative investments are impacting the industry, was moderated by Cathy Cunningham, Deputy Editor – Finance at Commercial Observer, a leading media outlet covering commercial real estate.

“Our goal with this panel was to provide Harvard graduate students with a variety of viewpoints from multiple areas of commercial real estate investment,” said Kaufman. “The sector has undergone a tremendous evolution over the past seven years. To provide attendees with a comprehensive snapshot of where the industry is today and where it’s headed in the future, we felt it would be best to present perspectives from the worlds of crowdfunding, tech, finance and academia.”

The panel navigated various factors influencing significant changes in commercial real estate investing, including:

• How regulation has facilitated greater access to a wider universe of real estate investments
• Individual investors’ increased investment options
• How technology is fueling increased access to deals and information
• The proliferation of real estate crowdfunding
• How tokenization is making real estate transactions more efficient
• Investment and capital-flow trends, including the impact institutions have on the investment habits of individuals

Kaufman has previously spoken at various prestigious academic institutions including The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, New York University, and Columbia Business School. This commitment to education aligns with ArborCrowd’s ongoing efforts to drive awareness of the challenges, opportunities and potential of the real estate crowdfunding industry, as well as the safeguards needed to protect investors and ensure the industry’s long-term viability.

SOURCE ArborCrowd

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