Over the past two years, real estate lending conditions have been transformed. A lower for longer rates narrative has been replaced by a higher for longer outlook. Does this make Real Estate Credit, lending on assets, more or less attractive as a route to achieving returns? How does it affect borrowers? To date, evidence of distress has been limited and restricted to specific pockets of the market, with lenders broadly remaining accommodating. With markets pricing in rate cuts and more resilient growth over 2024, is the worst behind the real estate sector or can we expect more pain to come?

Join us for a webinar on 6th March to discuss the European real estate debt market, where a panel of experts will be reviewing the market from both a borrower and lender’s perspective. Topics for discussion will include:

• Analysis of the European real estate debt market
• The relative attractiveness of real estate debt versus other asset classes
• How are borrowers’ capital structures holding up in a higher interest rate environment
• Are there sectors / geographies that are looking increasingly attractive / risky from a debt perspective
• Will we see more evidence of distress / lender-motivated sales coming to market
• What role is ESG playing in lenders’ decision making

Chair
Cleo Folkes, Founder, Property Overview

Speakers
Mohamed Ali, Debt Research Analyst, Savills IM
Gwendal Kalkofen, Managing Director Real Estate Finance, Europa Capital Partners
Thibaut Laffaille, Executive Director, Tristan Capital Partners
Martin Simonneau, Managing Director, UKI Regional Director and European Debt Capital Markets, Tishman Speyer

Mohamed Ali, Debt Research Analyst, Savills IM
Mohamed is the debt research analyst at Savills Investment Management (SIM), with a particular focus on providing research for DRC SIM.

In his debt research analyst role, Mohamed is responsible for developing market intelligence and quantitative tools that provide the team with analytical research and insight on market, asset and regional trends. Mohamed is also responsible for the production of thought pieces and whitepapers to inform internal and external stakeholders.

Prior to this Mohamed was Research Associate in the Real Assets team at Aviva Investors with particular focus on developing quantitative research across Real Assets to improve investment decision-making, and ensure new products meet the needs of a broader range of customers. His research expertise spanned all debt strategies across corporate, real estate and infrastructure.

Cleo Folkes, Founder, Property Overview
Cléo Folkes, a Dutch national, has a wide range of experience encompassing many aspects of property investment, asset management, research, strategy, business development, consultancy, training and change management.

Cléo set up Property Overview in October 2017, a dedicated property-training and consultancy company, which she still runs, providing a vast range of consultancy and training to a wide range of global clients. Notable highlights over this period are building out the Real Estate Social Value Index from May 2023, building out Cushman & Wakefield’s UK & EMEA office research capability, and working at CBRE IM as a senior consultant to the Investor Solutions team working on varied topics such as helping to set up a credit fund, capital raising and strategic business issues. Clients range across the spectrum such as start-ups to global giants. Work delivered also varied strongly, whether technical or analytical, with a strategic and business development angle.

Cléo has been actively involved with running the Society of Property Researchers (SPR) since 2010. Cléo is a diversity, equity and inclusion advocate.

Gwendal Kalkofen, Managing Director Real Estate Finance, Europa Capital Partners
Gwendal is the Head of Real Estate Finance at Europa and is responsible for all financing matters for the firm’s equity funds. Prior to joining in 2022, Gwendal was the Head of Debt, responsible for all of Tristan Capital Partners equity funds. Before joining Tristan Capital Partners, he was the Head of Real Estate Finance for Europe at Cromwell Property Group, responsible for all treasury matters across EMEA and Singapore. He was directly responsible for the successful completion of secured to unsecured debt transactions in excess of €3.5Bn and provided advisory and execution oversight on interest rate hedging and credit risk issues. In addition, Gwendal has an extensive banking background gained during his time at Pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank and Wells Fargo in London, originating and restructuring (Pan-European) transactions across EMEA. He holds a Masters in Geography from University Augsburg (Germany).



Thibaut Laffaire, Executive Director, Tristan Capital Partners
Thibaut is Executive Director at Tristan Capital Partners working in the Debt Raising team based in London, bringing a 12-year senior banker track record to the firm. In his role, Thibaut raises debt to support the acquisition of assets and portfolios across Europe in all property sectors focussing primarily on France, Italy and Switzerland as well as advising on interest rate hedging strategies.

Thibaut joined Tristan in 2023 from DekaBank, where he held several positions including an international assignment in the New-York office and more recently serving as Deputy Head of the origination team in Paris. Prior to joining DekaBank, Thibaut worked for CBRE Investment Management where he was Financing Manager participating in the setting-up of the financing department in relation with the pan-European funds.

Thibaut is graduated from Toulouse Business School and EM LYON and is a visiting professor at EM LYON (MSc Finance) since 2010.

Martin Simonneau, Managing Director, UKI Regional Director and European Debt Capital Markets, Tishman Speyer
Martin Simonneau joined Tishman Speyer in 2011. He currently oversees Debt Capital Markets across Europe and is responsible for Tishman Speyer's activities in the U.K.

In his Debt Capital Markets role, he is responsible for all debt financings related to funds, new acquisitions, development projects, and existing properties in the region. Prior to his current position, Martin worked within the European portfolio management and acquisition teams, where he focused on the European Strategic Office and India Funds as well as Portugal acquisitions. Before joining Tishman Speyer, he worked in asset management and acquisitions for Unibail-Rodamco in both Paris and Madrid. Martin holds an MS in engineering from the Ecole Centrale de Paris and a BA in economics from Paris Dauphine University.