Schecky Schechner is a Managing Director and Vice Chairman, Americas Real Estate and Gaming at Barclays. Based in New York, his group is responsible for the coverage of real estate clients for advisory services as well as all forms of real estate capital – be it debt or equity. Clients include the leading REITs, lodging and gaming companies, and real estate opportunity funds and financial sponsors. Mr. Schechner joined Barclays in 2008 from Lehman Brothers Inc. where he held a similar position. Prior to that, he was a Managing Director and the National Head of Mortgage Origination for JPMorgan Chase. He was responsible for overseeing domestic origination of over $11.5 billion per year of fixed and floating rate permanent mortgages. Mr. Schechner started his career in 1984 at Goldman Sachs in the Real Estate Department where he worked on a broad range of sales and financing assignments. He was stationed in London for two years where he had primary responsibility for the construction, leasing and financing of Goldman Sachs’ European Headquarters, Peterborough Court and Daniel House. Subsequently, he held various positions within Real Estate including being a founding member of both the Real Estate Principal Investment Area as well as the CMBS effort. When he left Goldman Sachs, he was co-head of the Real Estate Investment Banking business. Mr. Schechner is currently a trustee of the Urban Land Institute and a member of the Real Estate Roundtable. He has held leadership positions in the Real Estate Lenders’ Association, the Mortgage Bankers Association and the National Realty Committee/Real Estate Roundtable. Mr. Schechner has a BA in Economics and Political Science/Molecular Biochemistry and Biophysics from Yale University (1980) and a JD/MBA from Harvard University (1984).

Simon is Vice President, Research & Advisory Services at the Urban Land Institute (ULI), where he is responsible for managing its innovative research agenda covering the key issues shaping the future of the real estate industry including climate change and sustainability, investment and development trends and shifts in demography and technological change. Prior to joining ULI, Simon specialised in research on global cities and real estate for Grosvenor, one of the world’s largest privately-owned international property businesses. Simon’s role involved undertaking analysis on global city developments to inform the company’s long-term strategy and thinking on cities. He has undertaken major research projects on megatrends for real estate, examining topics such as urbanisation, demographic change, digital disruption and climate change. Simon also has previous experience working in urban planning, economic development and strategic consulting for the retail sector. He holds an MSc in Urban Economic Development from The Bartlett Development Planning Unit, University College London.

Gareth is a Director in the PwC Real Estate Corporate Finance team and has over 20 years multi-disciplined experience across the UK, European and global real estate sector. He leads PwC’s real estate thought leadership and research on behalf of the European firm, including PwC/ULI Emerging Trends in Real Estate European and Global reports. Having started his career as a real estate advisor in London and New York, he spent a number of years as an industry representative for the British Property Federation (BPF), European Public Real Association (EPRA) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI). During his 5 years at EPRA, he represented the European REIT sector in their engagements with governments, regulators and global investors. At PwC, Gareth specialises in real estate M&A and helps clients in the development and execution of their real estate strategy/operations and drives PwC’s knowledge and insight relevant to real estate businesses.

Currently serves as Chief Investment Officer of the Americas at Hines. Responsible for developing and directing investment strategy for North and South America that is in line with the global views of the firm. He is a member of the firm’s Executive and global Investment Committees. Mr. Munk joined Hines in 2019 as CIO, Americas and is responsible for developing and directing investment strategy for North and South America and growing the platform. In this role, Munk also generates new strategic opportunities for implementation in the Americas portfolio, and partners with Regional CEO’s to execute on the best deals for the firm and Hines investment vehicles. Munk brings more than 20 years of diverse experience in real estate investing activities in the U.S., Europe and Latin America. Before joining the firm, he served as Managing Director, Americas, Chief Investment Officer and head of Latin America at PGIM Real Estate. While at PGIM, he was responsible for Americas transaction activities, U.S. real estate debt strategies and Latin American operations. Prior to that he was a managing director at Morgan Stanley Real Estate, where he held various roles in the U.S., Europe and South America for more than a decade. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Global Exchange Council and serves on the Executive Committee of the Zell-Lurie Real Estate Center at the Wharton School. He is also a member of the Advisory Board at the Center for Real Estate Finance at Cornell University's SC Johnson College of Business and the Advisory Board at the University of Miami business school real estate program. In addition, he serves on the Board of Trustees at Gulliver Schools in Florida.

Emi Adachi is a Managing Director and Co-Head of Global Research at Heitman. She is an equity owner of the firm. Emi leads the North American and Asia Pacific research teams, overseeing strategy development and underwriting for all private equity and debt investments. Emi also manages ongoing research support for Heitman's portfolio, including sitting on the firm’s Valuation Committee. Additionally, Emi analyzes demographic and technological trends and their impact on real estate investment strategy and portfolio construction. Emi is a co-founder and Board Member of People of Color & Allies (POCA), one of Heitman’s employee resource networks. Previously, Emi was the Director of North American Investment Research and Co-Head of Global Research Operations. Emi received a BA with honors in Urban Studies from Stanford University. She is a member of the Urban Land Institute Global Exchange Council, Stanford Alumni Real Estate Council, the NAIOP Chicago Board, and the Lambda Alpha International Ely Chapter.