Category Archives: NAWRB Magazine

Globetrotting NAWRB & DC Finance’s 2019 Family Office Impact

Posted on by NAWRB
DC Finance
31 Jan

For the past four years, Desirée Patno, CEO & President of NAWRB, has had the honor of representing a voice for the gender lens perspective in the real estate and housing ecosystem at several of the largest events for ultra high net worth individuals, family offices and investors across the globe with one of the world’s leading conference organizers, DC Finance (“DC” the initials of Founder Denny Chared). DC Finance was established over 15 years ago and today reaches over 3,000 families around the world who represent over $1 Trillion USD of assets. In Israel, DC Finance produces the largest institutional investment conference with an industry that manages over $1 Trillion worth of assets.

DC Finance is well known to partner investors with industry thought-leaders by having discerning requirements, unique standards and integrating important work. Desirée is proud and honored to bring passion, clarity, impact and connectivity globally with world-class leaders through multiple lenses and industries.

 

Sept 26th -Toronto,Canada
Toronto Real Estate Family Office & High Net Worth Conference

The Toronto Real Estate Family Office Meetings are a series of select new intimate meetings for up to 120 Ultra & High Net Worth Individuals and family offices representatives focused on investment in real estate. Held at different select venues each time, DC Finance brings cutting-edge investment ideas, analysis of the markets by its market leaders and a meeting place for select families and family office representatives sharing the same investment interest.

Overlooking the breathtaking views of the Toronto Islands and the Canadian coastline, Desirée spoke on the “Success Stories of Real Estate” Panel, alongside Qi Tang, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust; Shenoor Jadavji, President & CEO, Lotus Capital Corp; and Diana Potapenko, Founder & CEO, Montgale Ventures Ltd,1 notably all women. Other interesting discussions on constructing one’s real estate portfolio, residential versus commercial investments, and U.S. market opportunities took center stage throughout the day.

 

Oct 29 – 30th – New York, NY
The East Coast Family Office & High Net Worth Conference; Family Office & High Net Worth Individuals Investment Day

The East Coast Family Office & High Net Worth Conference in New York City is DC Finance’s U.S.-based flagship conference. Attendees came from all over the globe, with most coming from the United States, United Kingdom, Israel and Switzerland. The flagship conference, moderated by Dale Jackson, Financial Markets Research, WABC Radio NYC, featured numerous interesting, high-calibre discussions about women disrupting the technology industry; the future of family office technology; preserving wealth with energy; how tech is revolutionizing the beauty industry; and much more. A notable keynote speaker, among many, was Daniel Saul Goldin, the 9th and longest-tenured Administrator of NASA, Founder, Cold Canyon AI, who was introduced by Mr. Jonathan Conrad, Chairman, CEO, Founder, AdmieMobile LLC.

Desirée hosted a Fireside Chat with Tal Kerret, President of Silverstein Properties Inc., about SilverTech Ventures, which is working to foster a community of successful technology entrepreneurs in New York City. As described on their website, Silvertech Ventures is an “accelerator and venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs grow their companies by respecting the role of the CEO, helping with our network and experience, and most importantly, by being there when needed.” Silverstein Properties, Inc. is well-known as the developer of the World Trade Center. In early 2019, Desirée had the pleasure of receiving a personal tour of the buildings and learned the series of obstacles Silverstein Properties faced.

The next day, on Oct. 30th, Desirée participated in Family Office & High Net Worth Individuals Investment Day. Discussion topics included global macro economy; traditional and alternative investing such as investments in oil and gas, high tech, real estate and arts; legal and tax issues; personal and financial security; international trends and developments; family office governance; successfully managing family dynamics; accounting and tax strategies; and philanthropy.

 

Oct 31st -Dallas, TX
The Dallas Family Office & High Net Worth Conference

After two days in NYC, Desiree jetted off to Texas to join the Real Estate Panel with other industry experts at The Dallas Family Office & High Net Worth Conference at City Club Dallas. This was a formal discussion of the capital market trends and pricing for the Logistics industry across the United States. The Dallas event, attended by over 100 qualified families and family offices executives, brought together families seeking cutting edge education and enabled an exchange of knowledge and experience.

Desirée participated in the “Real Estate Panel – Logistics Capital Markets Trends and Investment,” a formal discussion of the capital market trends and the logistics industry across the U.S. She was joined by Moderator Josh McArtor, Managing Director, Eastdil Secured; Edward Griffin, President & CEO, Griffin Partners Inc; Joe B. (Jody) Thornton, Jr. President, JLL Capital Markets, Americas; Sean Dalfen, President & Chief Investment Officer, Dalfen Industrial; Tom Fishman, Executive Vice President, Acquisitions and Dispositions; Nick Cassavechia, Founder, Old House Capital; and Jeffory Blackard, CEO & President, Blackard Global Chairman, Global Council, NeoRetroism.2

The panel discussed the flow of foreign capital to U.S. commercial real estate debt and equity as a big supplier of capital to the family office space, and how that has been slowing due to currency swap costs to the U.S. Dollar. In terms of domestic capital flow, Desirée shared her knowledge of domestic pension funds in terms of their interest in equity and debt, as well as que levels. The panelists also shared their own personal preferences, such as what appears cheap or expensive to them, what areas they are avoiding, what areas or property types are attracting them at the moment and expected material improvements in the next year. This was an unusually large panel that was predominantly male, so Desirée wanted to make sure that at least one woman was at the helm.

 

Nov 5th -Toronto, Canada
Toronto Real Estate Family Office & High Net Worth Conference

This conference covered a plethora of topics such as next generation issues, estate planning, family business, philanthropy, leadership, innovation, investments, arts and many additional topics at another high tier event with the DC Finance high standards signature.

Key speakers included Philippe de Gaspe Beaubien III, a serial entrepreneur who has established numerous start-ups over the last two decades and is currently helping 14 companies scale their business; Mitchell Goldhar, Founder & Executive Chairman of SmartCentres REIT; and Tal Kerret, President of Silverstein Properties, who discusses prime U.S. real estate opportunities.

Denny Chared, Founder & CEO of DC Finance, hosted a Fireside chat with Tal Kerret. Denny started his career as a financial journalist and Wall Street Editor for Globes Business Magazine. “Tal and I had a heart-to-heart fireside chat discussion where I had the pleasure of interviewing my friend, supporteer, a leading business man and President of Silverstein Properties,” stated Denny Chared about their conversation. “We both learned new things about each other in an exciting, open conversation. It went thirty minutes longer than planned!”

 

Dec 3rd -South Beach, Fl
Florida Family Office & Wealth Management Conference

In the heart of one of the world’s most important art happenings, South Beach, Florida, DC Finance hosted its sixth highly praised US wealth management conference, alongside Art Basel with a week of luxury events dedicated to their guests, on December 3rd, 2019. While half of attendees are from Florida, a good portion come from New York, Israel and several other regions across the globe. Desirée, the Master of Ceremonies, brought excitement and impact to the event with storytelling, vision and passion, which helped create deeper relationships among the participants.

Notable speakers included Francis Suarez, Mayor of the City of Miami a presenter since day one; Deborah L. Wince-Smith, President & CEO, Council on Competitiveness; and Tim Gannon, Co-Founder, Outback Steakhouse. With Desirée as Moderator for the “Opportunity Zone & Real Estate Developments,” panelists included Spencer Gray, President, Gray Capital; Blake S. Fogel, 2nd Generation Family Member and President, Fogel Real Estate.

A fireside chat titled “Art & Culture and the Detroit Renaissance!” featured special guests Barry Johnson, Executive Advisor to the Gilbert Family Office; Jennifer Gilbert, Founder & Chairwoman, POPHOUSE; and her son, Grant Gilbert, Student & Special Projects Director, The Cleveland Cavaliers. Jennifer’s husband, Dan Gilbert, is a well-known American businessman, investor, and philanthropist who is the Co-Founder of Quicken Loans, Founder of Rock Ventures and Owner of the National Basketball Association’s Cleveland Cavaliers.
All in all, these multiple events within the Family Office and Real Estate community demonstrate how vast and varied the economic ecosystem is, and how it touches many industries and countries around the world. World financial leaders came together to discuss pressing issues and recommend innovative solutions for intergenerational wealth transfer, navigating new tax laws, opportunity zones, human trafficking, real estate investments, philanthropy and so much more. Moreover, NAWRB was at the heart of these game changing discussions, contributing a gender lens so that those in power can create even greater social impact by leveraging resources.

“Thank you Denny and to the DC Finance Team for having NAWRB partner at these influential events for family offices and ultra high net worth individuals for nearly four years to share and leverage resources especially with a gender lens within the economic ecosystem,” states Desirée Patno. “I am proud to be part of DC Finance’s Steering Committee and look forward to the great expansion in 2020.”

“I am excited to have one of the most energetic women in the real estate space I have met on our stages,” stated Denny Chared about Desirée Patno. “I appreciate the collaboration, support and help bringing exciting panels that were presented to hundreds of family offices and high net worth family members all across the United States and Canada. I hope that in 2020 we will continue to do this across the globe including Israel and London, and our new destinations of Chicago, Montreal and Vancouver.”

 

California’s Cooling Housing Market: Symptom of National Affordability Issue

Posted on by NAWRB
housingmarket
03 Jul

The latest UCLA Anderson Forecast of California’s economic and housing market reports that housing will continue to cool into the year 2020 despite current job growth and strong economy. The economists attribute the weakening to falling home prices in major markets and decreased demand.

Economists anticipate the demand for housing will decrease in California’s major markets even though recent trends indicate the state’s overall economic strength, including improvements in the job market.

According to a report by CNBC, California’s average unemployment rate is expected to rise to an average of 4.5 percent this year and then decrease to 4.3 percent in 2020 and 2021. Also, the state has added the highest number of construction jobs, amounting to 28,500, in the past year.
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Road to Gender Equality – Keeping Women Ahead in the Labor Market

Posted on by NAWRB
gender equality1
03 Jul

For  enturies, women have faced injustice and fought for equality to men. Examples of this are in the fight for women’s suffrage beginning in the late 1800s, the inability for women to serve on a jury pre-1919 or for a single woman to open a bank account in her own name as little as roughly 50 years ago. Being a woman has not been seen as advantageous, at least from a historical standpoint. In regards to the workforce, it wasn’t until 1975 that the Sex Discrimination Act made it illegal to discriminate against women in work, education and training.

Even from that point, women still faced difficulty competing with their male counterparts in acquiring better positions and, despite the Equal Pay (Amendment) Act of 1983 allowing women to be paid the same as men for work of equal value, equal pay has still been an issue for some time. 

Yet, with all the struggle of women for equality, in recent years women—specifically Millennial women—have surged ahead of many of their male counterparts. Nearly 60 percent of all college students are women, demonstrating a growing gender gap (in favor of the female) in higher education—often times considered the “ticket” to a high-paying job. 
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Failure for Success in Women’s Leadership

Posted on by NAWRB
Success
03 Jul

Long ago, I received some leadership advice from a good friend that has continued to resonate within both my work and personal life for years: Take chances. When you fail, admit your failures and learn from them. The fear of failing can be paralyzing, and leaders must do more than fail at random or simply learn from their mistakes. Being a true leader requires having the confidence to trust yourself and take risks, for it is only through taking risks – and often failing at them – that you can innovate and improve, explore new ideas, and pursue excellence for yourself and your team.

Failures give us the opportunity to reset, learn and grow, and a leader understands that it is crucial to take advantage of these opportunities. Your reaction, response and recovery from failure can be an incredibly powerful path to success. When you let go of the fear of failure and instead seek active learning, adopt various perspectives, embrace continuous improvement, pay it forward and – most importantly – never give up, it will allow you to lead teams through a journey of discovery, innovation and success.

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Discrimination in the AI Industry Contributes to Discriminatory AI Systems

Posted on by NAWRB
Discrimination
03 Jul

A new report from New York University’s AI Now Institute titled Discriminating Systems: Gender, Race and Power in AI highlights the diversity crisis in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) sector and its effect on the development of AI systems with gender and racial biases. 

The lack of diversity in the AI sector and academia spans across gender and race. Recent studies show that women comprise only 15 percent of AI research staff at Facebook and 10 percent at Google. Women make up 18 percent of authors at leading AI conferences, while more than 80 percent of AI professors are men. Representation of other minorities is also sparse. Only 2.5 percent of Google’s workforce is black, while this is true of 4 percent for both Facebook and Microsoft. 

According to researchers, AI’s lack of diversity extends past the underrepresentation of women and other minority groups to power structures and the creation and use of various AI systems. Most of all, the report suggests that historical discrimination in the AI sector needs to be addressed in tandem with biases found in AI systems. 
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Don’t Bring Your Whole Self to Work: Bring Your Best Whole Work Self

Posted on by NAWRB
sarah1
03 Jul

As I look back on my twenty-five-year career in corporate America, I am struck by and struggle with the Diversity & Inclusion (“D&I”) and employee engagement mantra to “bring your whole self to work.” That might surprise you if you know me: I started my career working on D&I, and have worked on D&I inside and outside the workplace ever since. Some may even consider me a champion of D&I. But it is my passion for D&I that brings me to the conclusion that it is time to break the “bring your whole self to work” myth.

The idea behind this mantra is simple: if employees bring their whole selves to work, they will feel better about the workplace, and by extension be happier and more productive employees (and human beings). That sounds good on paper. The problem is this: you shouldn’t bring your whole self to work if that means behaving badly. Or said differently, you should bring your best whole work self to work, not your “whole self.”
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A Primer on Opportunity Zones Investing

Posted on by NAWRB

The opportunity zone program was enacted as part of the 2017 Tax Reform with the goal of directing long-term capital investments into underserved rural and urban communities. This program is viewed by many as the most ambitious federal tax incentive program for taxable investors to invest in real estate in decades. With an estimated $6.1 trillion of unrealized capital gains, the program uses a free-market approach to create economic resurgence and job creation in the low income and blighted communities.

Qualified opportunity zones are “economically distressed communities where new investments may be eligible for preferential tax treatment.” To qualify as an opportunity zone, a locality had to be nominated for the designation by its state governor and certified by Treasury.  Treasury certified 8,764 census tracks in the 50 states, District of Columbia, and five possessions, including the entire island of Puerto Rico. 

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In Remembrance of Laurie Maggiano

Posted on by NAWRB

This January marked the first anniversary of the death of Laurie Maggiano, who served as Servicing and Secondary MarketsProgram Manager at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Laurie was an influential leader in the mortgage industry, a role model to her peers, and a beloved friend to many professionals in the housing ecosystem. In honor of her life and memory, NAWRB is sharing heartwarming stories from those who had the pleasure of working with and befriending her.

NAWRB had the honor of featuring Laurie as our sheCENTER(FOLD)in Vol. 4, Issue 4 of our magazine. In her interview, she shared her favorite professional accomplishments, her journey to the top in a male-dominated industry, her love for theater, and words of wisdom for future generations of women professionals.
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sheCENTER(FOLD) Joanne Lipman

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SheCenterfold1
02 Jul

Author of Best-Selling Book That’s What She Said and Former Top of USA TODAY, The Wall Street Journal and Conde Nast

Joanne Lipman

Joanne Lipman, author of the Best-Seller “That’s What She Said,” former Editor in Chief at USA TODAY, and top editor at The Wall Street Journal and Conde Nast, has impacted the corporate world by joining women and men together in addressing the issues women face in the workplace. In an interview with NAWRB, she shares her most memorable experiences working at some of the nation’s most prominent publications, the way social media has changed the media landscape and her top five solutions organizations can use to achieve gender equality.

NAWRB: What are some of your most memorable and least favorite moments working as Editor in Chief at USA TODAY and The Wall Street Journal?
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New Corporate Diversity Bill Tackles Obstacles to Diverse Leadership

Posted on by NAWRB
bill Diverse
31 May

In February, Representative Gregory W. Meeks (D-N.Y.) introduced the H.R. 1018 – Improving Corporate Governance Through Diversity Act of 2019, which will require public companies to disclose the gender, race, ethnicity and veteran status of their board directors, nominees and senior executive officers, as a way to track the progress of diverse representation in the corporate sphere.

“Diversity has been proven to have a positive impact on business performance, and it is only natural for investors to want to know which companies are choosing to bring in a wealth of different perspectives into their corporate board rooms,” Representative Meeks said in an official statement. “Revealing the gender, racial, ethnic, and veteran makeup of these corporate C-suites and boardrooms will not only shed light on the value of diversity, but hopefully encourage corporate shareholders to increase diversity in the highest ranks of their corporations.”

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