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. Her latest focus is on all aspects of social value on existing property assets within Europe, but Cléo has a broad knowledge across asset types and regions, as well as equity and a little on debt. She speaks fluent English, Dutch and German. Cléo holds an MA in Economic Geography and is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA).
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.
Prior to this she worked as Research Manager at St Martins, the global property-investment arm of the Kuwait Investment Authority, from mid-2008 onwards. At St Martins she was responsible for global research and strategy, which encompasses overseeing house-views, quarterly reporting, producing the annual report, the investment process & associated risk including setting hurdle rates, performance calculation and analysis and bespoke in-depth research projects. Cléo joined from Spark Europe, a Pan-European investment advisory, and prior to this she worked in private equity for Terra Firma/Vonovia, at property consultancies (Cushman & Wakefield, Savills, CBRE, Allsop, Knight Frank), and at MSCI (IPD) in various positions, where she set up a world-first Social Housing Index.
Cléo has been actively involved with running the Society of Property Researchers (SPR) since 2010. Cléo is a diversity, equity and inclusion advocate.
Cléo has 30 years’ worth of property experience working for a variety of institutions such as chartered surveyors, independent institutions like IPD (now MSCI), a private equity firm and a Middle Eastern Sovereign Wealth Fund. Cléo has worked in a rich variety of roles, mainly focusing on research & strategy, but has also worked in capital raising, change management and business development amongst others. Current and previous market focus has been across asset classes and on a Global level as well as on a Pan-European, German, Dutch and UK-only basis. She speaks fluent English, Dutch and German. Cléo holds an MA in Economic Geography and is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA).
Before founding property Overview, Cléo spent nine years as Research Manager at St Martins, the global property-investment arm of the Kuwait Investment Authority, where she was responsible for global research and strategy, which encompassed overseeing house-views, quarterly reporting, producing the annual report, the investment process & associated risk including setting hurdle rates, performance calculation and analysis and bespoke in-depth research projects.