SPR 34th Annual General Meeting
4th November 2021

Let’s get physical

Welcoming members to the meeting, SPR President Andrew Smith noted that this was the second, and hopefully the final virtual AGM for the Society.  Looking back over the pandemic, he said that we had witnessed history in the making with the kind of dislocation that had previously been associated with major world events like the Wall Street Crash, the aftermath of World War 2 and the Global Financial Crisis.  Such events give researchers the chance to make a real difference by identifying specific economic triggers and their consequences, but they are also highly challenging given that no two crises are remotely similar.

Andrew went on to pay tribute to the SPR Committee for maintaining a vibrant programme of events throughout the pandemic, furthering members’ knowledge and bringing together the researcher community in the true spirit of the Society.  He particularly singled out SPR Secretary Rita Gosrani and Chair Lucy Greenwood for their contribution to making this happen.  He stressed that these have been difficult times for everyone’s physical and mental health, but that the SPR has provided a friendly forum where we could all continue to interact, however physically distant.

Lucy then proceeded to outline the achievements of the Society over the past year and was particularly pleased to note the return of face-to-face events during the last couple of months – the Summer Drinks, pub quiz and a seminar on the future of offices combined with a site visit to the City’s highest building, 22 Bishopsgate.  An end-of-year Winter Drinks is also scheduled for next Thursday, substituting for the usual Annual Dinner.

The SPR had organised nine webinars through the year, while three more were held jointly with other professional bodies, most notably INREV and the IPF.  There have also been five ‘In Conversation’ events, online fireside chats in which leading research figures discuss the highlights and lessons from their career.  In addition there were two virtual social events, a wine tasting and an art class, which were both educational and fun.  And the quarterly ‘Coffee and Conversation’, giving members a chance to meet one of their peers for an online chat, had also proved popular.  Lucy thanked Real Capital Analytics, Datscha and Oxford Economics for their continuing sponsorship of events through this difficult period.

Before closing her presentation, Lucy announced that Rita has sadly decided to step down as SPR Secretary, leaving a big hole to fill.  However, she was also able to give the good news that someone had already been found to step into her shoes, Becci Williamson.

The Society’s financial position has strengthened over the 2020/21 year, explained SPR Treasurer Ben Russell, giving his presentation of the accounts: the end-year balance has risen from £82.6k to £88.6k.  The predicted surplus for the year of £6,950 stemmed mainly from higher than expected subscriptions – the number of members rose from 512 to 530 – combined with income of nearly £10k from job adverts, for which just £800 had been budgeted.

However, the plan for 2021/22 is to now reverse this position, as the Society seeks to re-engage with the membership, in particular through a full calendar of social events, said Ben.  In the proposed budget, £15k was earmarked for smaller-scale events such as the Summer Drinks, and a further £14k for the Annual Dinner, to be held again for the first time in three years.  The relatively large projected loss of £9,850 reflected a conscious decision to ‘loosen the purse strings’ in the quest to bring people back together, he said.

The new SPR Committee was then voted in.  Thanks were given to those leaving the Committee:
Tom Duncan, Cromwell Property Group, Past Chair, Secretary, and Committee Member since 2015 and Joanna Turner, Canada Life Investments, a Committee Member since 2016, were particularly singled out for their long service.  Fiona Don, Avison Young, Maria Grubmueller, Nuveen Real Estate, Oliver Kolodseike, Colliers, Prohad Khan, Capital Economics and Rita Gosrani would also be stepping down.

The new Committee will comprise:

Hamish Smith, Savills Investment Management, Chair
Alex Dunn, Cromwell Property Group, Vice Chair
Stephanie Lin, M&G Real Estate, Junior Vice Chair
Benjamin Russell, Tristan Capital Partners, Hon. Treasurer
Dr Yi Wu, Henley Business School, Hon. Secretary
Lucy Greenwood, Savills
Cleo Folkes, Property Overview
Tessa English, JLL
Zuhaib Butt, LaSalle Investment Management
David Inskip, CBRE Global Investors
Matthew Soffair, Legal & General IM
Siena Golan, DWS
Joanna Tano, BMO Real Estate Partners
Will Laing, Savills Pearl Gillum, Avison Young (new member)
Charles Burton, Oxford Economics (new co-opted member)
Shehryar Qazi, SOAS (new co-opted member)
Christopher Dunn, Colliers (new co-opted member)
Mhairi Thomson, Avison Young (new co-opted member)
Rad Radev, CoStar Group UK (new co-opted member)

Outlining the Society’s plans for the coming year, new Chair Hamish Smith echoed Ben Russell, saying that the priority for 2022 would be engagement.  He noted that recent social and technical events suggested there is huge appetite for physical events among the membership, but he also stressed how popular webinars had proved to be through the pandemic.  They were particularly valuable for those based outside London including some from abroad, and continuing to offer a number of online events could help grow SPR membership more widely in Europe.

This would be part of a broader effort to enhance the SPR’s appeal to new members, including by improving the diversity and inclusion of panels and social events. Building on the success of the ‘In Conversation’ events this year, another strand will be to leverage the knowledge already existing in the Society with a mentoring scheme for those new to property research, as well as reviving the SPR Research Course.  Finally, there will be an effort to broaden the range of sponsors beyond the relatively small number that the Society has come to rely on recently, including the development of packages that could prove more attractive than single events.

Hamish also announced the shortlist for this year’s SPR Research Prize, for which there had been a healthy ten entrants in the open category and seven in the under-30s.  The quality of the work submitted and the range of subjects covered suggest that property research is in safe hands, he suggested.  The shortlisted papers are:

Open Category

European Residential: On the Rise - Damian Harrington, Colliers International
Climate: Informed Real Estate Returns in Europe - Dennis Schoenmaker, Hans Vrensen, AEW
Private Capital in Affordable Housing - Lydia McLaren, Chris Buckle, Lawrence Bowles, Savills

Under 30s Category

EPCs and the Green Homes Grant - Sophie Tonge, Nicholas Gibson, Savills
Digital Connectivity: 5G and its role in the Future of Real Estate - Fintan English, Mayfair Capital
Estimating the Natural Vacancy Rate in European Offices - Yasemin Engin, Capital Economics

Towards the end of the meeting, Andrew Smith presented the SPR Fellowship for 2021 to Jeremy Kelly, Director, Global Research at JLL.  He noted that in a distinguished research career spanning more than 30 years, Jeremy had played a particularly important role in advancing research in emerging markets such as China, India and Russia, and would be known to many for leading the development of the JLL Transparency Index, in collaboration with Rosemary Feenan, who had been appointed SPR Fellow last year.  Jeremy said that he was ‘hugely flattered and chuffed’ to receive the award.  Still contributing to JLL’s research after 38 years, he stressed that he still had more to do, notably in the areas of climate action and social justice, which he sees as an increasing focus for property research in years to come.

Tim Horsey