Dexus, Blackstone, Brookfield Join Australia

Dexus fund manager Brad Collier has joined the speaker roster for the Mingtiandi Australia Forum on 15 September. He will be interviewed alongside senior executives from Blackstone, Brookfield, and DWS at the Four Seasons Hotel in Sydney, according to the event source.

Collier leads the A$12.6 billion Dexus Wholesale Property Fund. His addition means the forum's spotlight interviews will feature three of Australia's most closely watched landlords, including Investa chief executive Peter Menegazzo and Charter Hall direct property chief Steve Bennett.

More than two dozen speakers are now set for the event, which is expected to draw over 200 industry leaders. The programme will cover commercial, industrial, living, and hospitality investment strategies, as well as cross-border opportunities.

Hospitality and Industrial Investment

Blackstone managing director Rohit S Jain will join a session on hospitality investment. He will be alongside Matthew Tripolone of IHG Hotels & Resorts and Maria Ariizumi of Hilton.

A separate panel will focus on industrial investment, driven by e-commerce demand. Speakers include Claire Reading of Stockland, Ross Lees of Growthpoint Properties, and Chris Favretto of Cabot Properties. They will appear with Troy Bryant, founder and co-chief executive of Macquarie Asset Management-backed developer and fund manager LogiSPACE for a look at the forces driving demand for distribution space across Australia.

Build-to-Rent and Commercial Markets

A panel on build-to-rent, Australia's most sought after asset class in recent years, will feature Matthias Naumann, head of real estate for Asia Pacific at DWS, and Jessie Zhuang, vice president at Warburg Pincus-backed Kio Investment Management. They join previously announced speakers Sascha Harms of Arch Capital and Dr Sabine Schaffer of Pro-Invest Group. The panel will be moderated by Paul Adamiak of Citco.

In the past eighteen months Australia has also benefited from the return of core investing. To explore opportunities in offices and shopping centres, Rowan Russell, vice president for investments at Brookfield Asset Management, has joined the forum's commercial markets panel. He will speak alongside Julian Menegazzo of Link Real Estate Partners and Ben Schubert of Savills Australia. This panel will be moderated by Alpha Alternatives partner Paul Petersen.

Cross-Border Investment Insights

With Asian investors playing a leading role in Australian real estate markets, a discussion on cross-border investment will feature Kate Herfort, partner and head of group capital at data centre investor AGP Sustainable Real Assets, and Rava Partners managing director Harsh Narang. They join previously announced speakers Trent Winduss of Phoenix Property Investors and Stuart McCann of CBRE. For those unable to attend in person, the forum will be livestreamed globally on the MTD TV platform.