PREA 36th Annual Institutional Investor Conference 2026
PREA’s annual conference includes a dedicated investor-only programme for institutional real-estate allocators alongside the broader conference agenda.
About this event
PREA’s 36th Annual Institutional Investor Conference is planned by leading real-estate investors for the benefit of the wider institutional investment community. The Washington, DC programme gives institutional investors and managers opportunities to connect with peers and examine current developments in real estate and related markets. It includes a dedicated investor-only programme, main-stage presentations, breakout sessions, affinity-group discussions, networking functions and a closing breakfast programme.
Source: organiser materialsAgenda
Wednesday, 7 October 20268 sessions
Investor Council meeting (closed to Investor Council members only)
Investor-Only Day (closed to investors only)
Early badge pick-up – Potomac ballroom foyer, ballroom level
PREA Women’s Tea
PREA Board of Directors meeting
Opening reception at The National Museum of Natural History
Details
- (Shuttles depart from the K Street entrance of the Westin beginning at 6:10pm)
Museum entrance at Constitution Avenue at 10th Street, NW (No guest entry at the Mall doors on Madison Drive)
- (Shuttles depart from the K Street entrance of the Westin beginning at 6:10pm)
Affinity Group Dinners – Invite Only
Board of Directors Dinner – Invite only
Thursday, 8 October 202619 sessions
Morning Walk & Run
Details
- Fitness Activity — Morning Walk & Run
Get your day off to a great start! Join fellow conference attendees for a guided morning walk or run through Washington, DC. All fitness levels are welcome.
Guided Walk – Click here to sign up
Guided Run – Click here to sign up
- Fitness Activity — Morning Walk & Run
Check-in and continental breakfast – Potomac ballroom foyer, ballroom level
New members and first-time attendees welcome breakfast – Anacostia Ballroom, ballroom level
Committee breakfast meetings
Details
- Conference Committee – Meeting room 8/9, meeting room level
Institute Committee – Meeting room 16, meeting room level
Publications Committee – Meeting room 10/11, meeting room level
Research Committee – Meeting room 15, meeting room level
- Conference Committee – Meeting room 8/9, meeting room level
Welcome Comments
Details
- – Potomac Ballroom, ballroom level
The Economy's Next Act
Details
- – Potomac Ballroom, ballroom level
The US economy is still growing, but the fault lines are widening. A cooling labor market, stubborn inflation, tariffs, large fiscal deficits and elevated long-term rates are colliding with an extraordinary AI investment boom that is reshaping growth, productivity and the equity markets. Mark Zandi will separate signal from noise: Is the economy headed for a soft landing, or is recession risk rising? Can AI-driven investment and wealth effects keep carrying consumers - and what happens if markets stumble? Who benefits from growth increasingly driven by productivity rather than jobs? And against that backdrop, where can institutional investors find durable returns when public markets, private capital and real assets are all competing for the same growth story?
Speaker: Dr. Mark Zandi, Ph.D., Chief Economist, Moody's Analytics
Q&A Moderator: Roberta Waxman-Lenz, Managing Director, International Real Estate, State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio
- – Potomac Ballroom, ballroom level
Who steps into Europe?
Details
- – Potomac Ballroom, ballroom level
US capital has enough opportunity at home. European GPs are tempering their optimism. And yet someone has to step in. Who is actually moving into European real estate, on what terms, and with what conviction?
This panel brings together global players to discuss where they see the opportunity, what the macro needs to look like before they commit, and whether Europe's repricing is a signal to act or a reason to wait. The conversation will press on which sectors are attracting conviction and which are off the table, what further repricing would need to look like to move the needle, and whether large allocators are coordinating or this is a moment for the patient and the brave to move alone?
Speakers:
Tommy Brown, Partner, LGT Capital Partners (USA) Inc.
Ronen Ribak, Head of Value-Add, Europe, Real Estate Europe, DWS
Henry Steinberg, Partner, Global Head of Real Estate, EQT Real Estate
Mike Wiebolt, Global Chief Investment Officer, Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies ("BREDS")
Moderator:
Amit Aggarwal, Principal Investment Officer, Real Assets, State of Connecticut, Office of the Treasurer
- – Potomac Ballroom, ballroom level
Break & Professional Headshots available
Details
- – Potomac Ballroom foyer, ballroom levell
Multifamily: Is 2027 the time to go overweight?
Details
- – Potomac Ballroom, ballroom level
Multifamily has long been the darling of institutional real estate. But the post-pandemic surge in rent growth has stalled, new supply has arrived in force, and cap rate expansion has weighed on values. Few question the importance of the asset class, but many are asking when is the right time to deploy. We look at where the multifamily cycle sits today — supply, demand, rents, occupancy, returns and performance. Then we challenge our speakers and audience by asking if 2027 is the right vintage, and if not — when?
Data Review:
Jim Costello, Executive Director, Research & Development, MSCI
Speakers:
Emi Adachi, Managing Director, Global Head of Investment Research, Heitman
Gregory Bates, President and CEO, GID
Julie Ingersoll, Chief Investment Officer, Americas Direct Real Estate, CBRE Investment Management
Len O'Donnell, Chairman & CEO, Affinius Capital
Moderators:
Michael Douglas, Head of Real Estate, North America, CPP Investments
Anoop Varghese, Managing Director, CPP Investments
- – Potomac Ballroom, ballroom level
Lunch
Details
- – Rock Creek Ballroom, ballroom level
Affinity group luncheon program – Appointed Members Only
Details
- Alternative Real Estate Investment: Operating Alpha or Operating Risk? How investors underwrite operationally intensive real estate and distinguish true operating leverage/manager advantage from simply taking more operating risk.
Capital Markets – Blue Flight: Pivoting in a challenging environment. Does real estate still warrant capital and, if so, where should it be directed?
Capital Markets – Red Flight: When Uncertainty is the Only Certainty: How are investors evolving strategy, finding opportunity, and delivering returns for their stakeholders?
Defined Contribution Plans: From Policy to Practice: Executive Order Progress and the Future of Real Estate Access in Defined Contribution Plans
Development: Will Office to Residential conversions help heal the Office market: Join us to tour a recently completed project and gain insights as to the opportunity and also challenges.
Innovation: Join the Innovation Affinity Group for a tour of the future Washington Commanders stadium site and surrounding redevelopment area. Set on the historic RFK campus, the project represents a rare opportunity to examine how sports, mixed-use development, and urban revitalization can come together to reshape an entire district.
International Real Estate Investment: The Relative Value of Real Estate – Should we invest globally and which sectors will provide greater value?
Reporting and Valuations: Apartment investors continue patiently waiting for NOI growth to arrive—but how long before patience gives way to interest rate pressures?
Research: Housing Populism and the Rent Control Conundrum
- Alternative Real Estate Investment: Operating Alpha or Operating Risk? How investors underwrite operationally intensive real estate and distinguish true operating leverage/manager advantage from simply taking more operating risk.
Breakout sessions
Details
- #1: Diversified vs. Single-Sector Strategies - What Holds Up Across Cycles? – Anacostia Ballroom, ballroom level
Does diversification outperform specialization over the long term? This session explores the tradeoffs between diversified and single-sector real estate strategies through the lens of performance, risk, and organizational resilience - examining return attribution across cycles, downside protection when sectors fall out of favor, and whether specialized managers face greater operational pressure during downturns.
This is an interactive session. Following a short panel discussion to set the scene members break into roundtables to discuss where diversification creates value, where specialization still wins, and how investors are underwriting sector concentration risk in today's market.
Data Review:
Greg MacKinnon, Ph.D., CFA, Head of Research, PREA
Speakers:
Donald Hall, Portfolio Manager, U.S. Cities Diversified Strategy & Global Head of Research, Nuveen Real Estate
Chip Lippman, Managing Director and Partner, US Real Estate, Carlyle
Bahaar Sidhu, Partner and CFO, Berkeley Partners
Sally Stocks, Senior Portfolio Manager, CalSTRS
Moderator: Christy Gahr, Director Capital Markets, Realterm
#2: Manufactured Housing: Pulling Back the Layers - A Deep Dive for LPs – River Birch Ballroom, meeting room level
For many institutional investors, manufactured housing remains largely unfamiliar territory. This session is designed to change that. PREA brings together a GP, LP, and researcher to pull back the layers on an asset class attracting serious capital but poorly understood - examining how it works, how it is accessed, what the operational demands look like, and whether it scales to meet institutional requirements.
This is an interactive session. Following a short panel discussion to set the scene, attendees break into moderated roundtables to go deeper on the risks, the returns case, and whether manufactured housing deserves a place in your portfolio.
Speakers:
Drew Odabashian, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Chief Investment Officer, Horizon
Rachel Urban, Director of Investments, Urban Investment Advisors
Moderators:
Sean Burton, CEO & CIO, Cityview
Helena Sullivan, Director, Investor Relations, Bain Capital
- #1: Diversified vs. Single-Sector Strategies - What Holds Up Across Cycles? – Anacostia Ballroom, ballroom level
Top of the K or bottom? Which consumer drives the next decade of real estate demand?
Details
- – Potomac Ballroom, ballroom level
Institutional capital is making bets at both ends of the K-shaped consumer. At the top, luxury hospitality, wellness, marinas, and FBOs are riding top-decile spending. At the bottom, manufactured and affordable housing, discount retail, and budget hotels are drawing money on the back of demographics and affordability pressure. Which is the better real estate bet?
Speakers:
John Ege, Partner, KSL Capital
Brian Finerty, Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer, Green Courte Partners
Jeff Laliberte, Partner and Head of Acquisitions, Wheelock Street Capital
Moderator: Matt Saverin, Senior Director, Real Return, UTIMCO
- – Potomac Ballroom, ballroom level
End of Day 1 Main Stage program
Rising Leaders Conversation Series
Details
- Exclusive to Rising Leaders (age 40 and under). Space is limited. Click here to register
Speaker:
Danita Johnson, Head of Private Markets, New Hampshire Retirement System
Julien Roy-Décary, Managing Director, PSP Investments
Moderator:
Munir Iman, Sr. Vice President, Callan & Rising Leaders Committee Member
- Exclusive to Rising Leaders (age 40 and under). Space is limited. Click here to register
Cocktail reception – Rock Creek Ballroom, ballroom level
Dinner program – Potomac Ballroom, ballroom level
Details
- A conversation with Senator Mitt Romney, United States Senator for Utah, 2019-2025; Governor of Massachusetts, 2003-2007; President & CEO, Salt Lake Organizing Committee, 2002 Winter Olympic Games; Founder & CEO, Bain Capital and Timmy Davis, U.S. Ambassador to the State of Qatar from 2022 to 2025, Executive Assistant to Secretaries of State Pompeo and Blinken.
Rising Leaders Cocktails
Complimentary Professional Headshots
Details
- Available during all breaks in the foyer until 5pm. Stop by to update your professional profile photo. Headshots are captured and delivered the same day.
Friday, 9 October 20265 sessions
Breakfast
Details
- – Potomac Ballroom, ballroom level
Washington's Read on the Markets: Politics, Policy & the Path Ahead
Details
- – Potomac Ballroom, ballroom level
A point/counterpoint conversation on the road to the midterms and the broader economic outlook, covering key races, the range of possible outcomes, and the macro picture, including rates, trade, and global stability, and what it means for institutional investors heading into 2027 and beyond.
Moderator:
Linsey Davis
Two-Time Emmy Award-Winning Journalist, Host & Radio Correspondent
Donna Brazile
Democratic Strategist & ABC News Contributor
Karl Rove
Republican Strategist & Fox News Contributor
- – Potomac Ballroom, ballroom level
End of Main Stage program
Talent Development Workshop, hosted by the PREA Social Impact Committee and the PREA Foundation
Details
- – Anacostia Ballroom, ballroom level
This interactive workshop explores the dynamics that underpin high-performing, multigenerational teams. Participants will examine how differences in expectations, communication styles, and approaches to leadership across generations can create both friction and opportunity. Designed for both senior leaders looking for ways to create a better team environment and for rising professionals looking for ways to work more effectively within their teams, this workshop will offer participants actionable insights that can be applied within their own teams and organizations.
Contact greg@prea.org to advance register for this session.
Speakers:
Luis Engleton-Sapon, Analyst, Artemis Real Estate Partners
Terron Grant, Investment Officer – Real Estate, New York State Common Retirement Fund
Cathy Marcus, Co-Head & Global COO – Real Estate, PGIM
Ivan Barron, Ph.D., Executive Director, PREA Foundation
- – Anacostia Ballroom, ballroom level
Conference ends