2025-05-08T00:00:00-0400

2025-05-08T00:00:00-0400

9th Annual Real Estate South Forum Austin | May 8, 2025 Request Agenda


The 9th Annual Real Estate South Forum is a local peer-to-peer educational meeting exclusively for the institutional and HNW wealth management community with a specific focus on allocations to real estate.

This closed-door one-day forum will bring together public and corporate pension plans, endowments, foundations, insurance portfolios, healthcare plans, investment consultants, family offices, HNW wealth managers, and private banks.



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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Ken McDowell, Real Estate Portfolio Manager, Employees Retirement System of Texas

Ken McDowell joined the Employees’ Retirement System of Texas (ERS) in February of 2013 and has approximately 32 years of experience in commercial and multifamily real estate, including acquisitions, asset management, and dispositions. As a Real Estate Portfolio Manager with ERS, his primary duties include private real estate commingled fund and co-investment selection and underwriting, and asset management. Prior to joining ERS, Mr. McDowell worked for various companies and organizations in the commercial banking and real estate industries. Most notably, he was a Senior Real Estate Portfolio Manager with the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS), where he started the non-core private real estate portfolio program, and as a Senior Investment Analyst with the Ohio Public Employees’ Retirement System (OPERS), where he was responsible for acquisition and asset management services of directly held commercial and multifamily real estate investments. 


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Please note only corporate email addresses will be accepted.

Why do I need to enter my corporate email address?
By using your corporate email address, we can verify that you are a registered financial professional.

Key Discussion Topics

State of the Industry

The Real Estate South Forum kicks off with a dynamic fireside chat with Ken McDowell of the Employees Retirement System of Texas. In this session, Ken will dive into ecommerce, onshoring, and other macroeconomic trends impacting industrial properties. He will discuss how he views niche property types like manufactured housing, medical office building, and cold storage. What are key considerations around data centers? Have private real estate valuations troughed? How quickly will they rebound?

 

Roadmap to a High Performing Real Estate Strategy

Real Estate industry leaders convene to lend their expertise on how markets are shifting across the sunbelt. Which sectors of the real estate market are performing favorably? How are investors and managers diversifying their portfolios? How are investors designing a comprehensive roadmap to a top performing real estate strategy?

 

What’s Next for Texas (and the Rest of the Sunbelt) – 2026 Outlook

In recent years, the Sunbelt has seen a surge of renters and buyers, particularly as residents from the West Coast and Northeast sought more affordable housing options. As we look ahead to 2026, will the region continue its growth trajectory? Which real estate sectors are poised for the strongest returns? What do industry experts anticipate for the future of Texas and its neighboring states?

 

The Role of Housing in Portfolio Construction

What housing trends are most significantly driving the residential, multifamily, student housing, senior housing, manufactured housing, single family rental, and build to rent markets? How are mortgage rates impacting housing markets in Texas? What are industry leaders predicting for rental patterns? What are your thoughts on price corrections? 

 

Expert Niche Real Estate Property Projections

Which niche real estate asset type is performing favorably? As niche real estate strategies are continuing to gain favor amongst investors, where are you focusing your research efforts? Life sciences, data centers, cold storage, luxury garages, film studios, medical office buildings, among others, are being woven into investment research conversations. Which alternative sectors are top of mind for you?

 

Strengthening Your Debt Exposure 

How are investors approaching debt in the current economic market? How are lending standards, mortgage maturities, and loan defaults impacting the market? How can you provide investors with predictable cash flow? How are debt valuations teams making sense of local real estate markets? What does the next year hold for commercial and residential real estate debt?

 

The Rise of Industrial

Industrial real estate markets are growing as logistics, manufacturing and data centers continue to rise. How are these real estate asset classes playing a role in your portfolio? Why should investors be considering both industrial properties to bolster their real estate investment strategies? What technological innovations are emerging in this sector? What are the infrastructure requirements to support it?

 

The Next Wave of Retail, Office and Hospitality

How are developers, managers, and investors approaching the next wave of commercial real estate? How is the projected growth of retail foot traffic impacting your real estate portfolio? Has your perspective on office changed in the last year? What will the next wave of hotels and hospitality hold? Are luxury hotels and high-end destinations top of mind in your approach to hospitality?

 

Debating Opportunistic, Value Add, Core, and Core Plus

Given the change in administration, how is your organization shifting its approach to core and core plus real estate strategies? Are you anticipating stronger returns for value add and opportunistic or core and core plus properties? Which geographic markets are you betting on, and why? Do you have a contrarian view on risk profiles? Are you balancing your portfolio with a blend of opportunistic, value add, core, and core plus?

 

The Future of Real Estate

Industry leaders take the stage to share their critical market projections. Where is the real estate industry heading? What market trends are fading, and which are emerging? How are you approaching asset protection for your underlying clients? Which real estate asset classes are you betting on in the long term? How are you approaching innovation as you look ahead to the next 12-24 months?


REGISTRATION

INVESTORS: Complimentary Registration for all qualified investors. Email [email protected] for more information on obtaining a complimentary ticket.

MANAGERS & SERVICE PROVIDERS: Rates below reflect the current price for all asset managers and service providers.

 

PRICING

Early Bird - Managers & Service Providers 2,500.00 USD 12/20/24
Event Registration - Managers & Service Providers 3,000.00 USD 05/09/25

VENUE


JW Marriott Austin
110 E 2nd St
Austin, TX
United States 78701
CLICK TO VISIT VENUE WEBSITE

CONTACT

Sponsorship Opportunities & Registration

+1 212-804-6220

[email protected]

Allocator Attendance

+1 347-778-2568

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Media Partnerships

+1 212-600-8631

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