Questions & Answers

What do you consider your greatest work accomplishment?

It's tough to pick one, but my work in recreating the NAREIT REIT Index is memorable. The NAREIT index was started in 1972 and was calculated monthly. I ran that index in the mid-1990s, just after I began to work there. My one question was, if these publicly traded stocks are real-time, why isn't the benchmark? That was my goal, and I figured it out and built it to be real-time right in a small room at the NAREIT office. But that was only the first step.

The index was U.S. based, and it made sense to go global. We paired up with the European REIT Association (EPRA) and combined the indexes to create the EPRA/NAREIT Global REIT Index, which became the global benchmark for REITs. Now we had to capitalize on it.

We initially sold it to the Euronext stock exchange to license, but it wasn't up to our standards. Therefore, we met and passed it on to FTSE, who has licensed it since. It's now called the FTSE/EPRA/NAREIT Global REIT index and generates about $10 million in licensing fees annually.

https://www.ftserussell.com/products/indices/epra-nareit

What are you working on right now?

I'm working on a handful of projects right now. Still, one that stands out is another global thought leadership article with the Global Listed Infrastructure Organization (GLIO) that will be published in the IPE Real Assets magazine.
The article is on adding listed infrastructure investments to a standard portfolio of equity, fixed, and risk-free assets to find optimal portfolios based on risk and return. The efficient frontier results are exciting, and I think investors will be impressed with adding infrastructure as an investment option.

What made you choose this career?

I've always been analytical and interested in finding answers and solving problems. Add that I won a stock-picking competition in high school and it's a perfect combination for a finance major.  I got my BS in Finance and decided to change locations moving to Washington, DC.  There is where I got my first job and fell into real estate research. From there I've been producing articles, generating publications, creating new content and speaking about them since.

What else do you enjoy besides work?

I love spending time with my wife and friends. We enjoy traveling, going to the gym (not all the time) and golfing.  I'm a very active person, so it's rare to find me not doing something.