Asset Services Insights

Is there a typical approach you take

when helping our clients understand

the risks they are taking?

I listen. I don’t go in and try to convince

a prospect or a client that they need a

particular solution. I listen as they explain

their problem or concern. I try to develop

a complete understanding of their

business model during the initial meeting

and then I leave and contemplate. I may

ask for additional information or I may

begin to lay out possible solutions. Once

I’ve evaluated the relative merits of each,

I return to the client, lay out the options,

and recommend the one I feel makes the

most sense and why.

As our world continues to

evolve and become increasingly

unpredictable, what is your advice to

investors of real estate and property

management professionals?

Successful investing is all about risk

management and maximizing ROI.

Real estate investors are typically very

good at assessing financial risk but,

in my experience, very few take into

consideration location-specific physical

risks prior to purchasing an asset. For

example, if a property is vulnerable to

coastal storm surge flooding, as was

the case with about a dozen Class-A

office buildings in Downtown Manhattan

during Hurricane Sandy, the cost to the

owner in lost rents, payment of insurance

deductibles, and marketing costs to re-

rent the building can have an enormous

impact on ROI. My advice to investors

is to spend the relatively small cost of

having an all-hazard risk assessment

done before purchasing any new asset.

As for property managers, the terrorism

threat has changed fundamentally.

Whereas the concern previously had

been that organized groups like al Qa’ida

would mount a planned, coordinated

attack against a property, the threat

now is that any individual can read

instructions online on how make

explosives, build an Improvised Explosive

Device, and carry out an attack at what

is now referred to as “lifestyle” targets—

places where large numbers of people

gather.

It is critical property management staff

are trained to be alert for potential

threats and know how to effectively

respond. A robust emergency response

program must be laid out with specific

responsibilities for all property

personnel for all possible emergency

scenarios. Active engagement with

local law enforcement and neighboring

property managers is important to build

trusted relationships so information

about potential threats can be shared

immediately, and to enable law

enforcement to verify whether a threat

exists and to neutralize it if it does.

Name your favorite place in the

world, where you have either

traveled or lived, and the reason(s) why

it’s your favorite.

The middle of the ocean. It doesn’t matter

which ocean, except probably the Arctic.

I have been an offshore sailor for most of

my adult life. Some of the most beautiful

things I’ve seen have been far from the

sight of land.

Aside from that, I always feel at home

when I arrive in Paris—although I’ve

never lived there. But, there are so many

beautiful and interesting places—Machu

Pichu in Peru, Ilha Grande off the east

coast of Brasil, the Turquoise Coast of

Turkey, Sicily. I could go on and on.

You’ve traveled the world, but is

there anywhere you haven’t been

that you’d still like to visit?

Yes. I have always wanted to sail around

the world. I still hope to do that but the

one part of the world that I have never

seen is the tropical Pacific—Micronesia,

Australia, and New Zealand. Of course,

sailing there would be the best—

probably the only—way to do it.

And, if you had one day where you

could be completely disconnected

from work and the potential threats

of the world, how would you spend

that day?

“Sailing on

my sailboat

Albamar

. It

doesn’t matter

where but

hopefully at sea,

far from land.”

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