In the wake of central banks rapidly hiking interest rates to combat inflation, listed property markets experienced a spike in volatility and have been heavily sold-off. By contrast, unlisted property has held up relatively well despite the pressure on valuations due to the considerable rate hikes and looming shadow of recession.
Given this divergence, it’s now more important than ever to understand how unlisted property fund managers plan to navigate these choppy waters and what their outlook is for the next six to twelve months.
The next Lonsec Manager in Focus explores the unlisted property sector as we ask Ross Lee, Head of Real Estate Funds Management at Centuria, and Steve Bennett, Direct CEO at Charter Hall, why investors may want to consider commercial property over residential property or REIT markets, how their teams are navigating the current market volatility and what keeps them up at night. Peter Green, Director of Research at Lonsec Research, will again be hosting this Manager in Focus.
There will be a dedicated Q and A session, so have your questions ready to ask Ross and Steve.
Peter Green, Lonsec
Director of Lonsec Research (Host)
Peter joined Lonsec in 2008 and is Lonsec’s Director of Research, a role he has held since 2020. In this role, Peter is responsible for leading the research effort for all professionally managed investment capabilities including managed funds, ETFs and LICs/LITs. Peter also manages the broader research team as well as enhancing the research process as required. Peter had previously been the Head of Listed Products among other roles. Prior to joining the Managed Funds team in mid-2012, Peter held roles as a Senior Investment Analyst for both Equities Research and Direct Property. Before his career at Lonsec Research, Peter worked as a Development Analyst/Senior Property Accountant for an Australian REIT, where his main role was providing analysis and budgeting/forecasting capabilities to the Australian retail property team. He originally worked for Andersen/Ernst & Young as an external audit senior as well as spending two years in the United Kingdom in various accounting roles. He is a Chartered Accountant.
Ross Lees, Centuria
Head of Real Estate Funds Management
Ross is the Head of Real Estate Funds Management and a Centuria Senior Executive Committee member. He is responsible for both listed and unlisted property funds in the office, industrial, retail, healthcare and agricultural sectors. This includes Australia’s largest ASX-listed pure-play office and industrial REITs (COF and CIP), and more than 100 open- and closed-ended unlisted property funds with AUM exceeding $19 billion. Ross joined Centuria in 2017 and has more than 17 years of investment management experience, having held senior transactional and portfolio management positions for peers including Dexus, LOGOS Group and Stockland.
Steven Bennett, Charter Hall
Direct CEO
Steven is the Direct CEO at Charter Hall and manages $11 billion of Australian real estate on behalf of self-managed super funds, high net worth and direct investors. His day-to-day responsibility includes overseeing asset management and tenancy matters, managing the financial structure of the funds and stakeholder communications. Steven has held the position of President of the Property Funds Association, where he committed to furthering the association’s goals: representing direct property investors’ and managers’ interests; promoting the industry; and providing a forum for research and education. Before joining Charter Hall Group, Steven worked for Macquarie Group Limited in both their Sydney and London offices.
