Due diligence in the virtual era
NAREIM Dialogues Fall 2021 issue
October 25, 2021
By Anh Duc Tran
NAREIM Fellow Class of 2020-21
Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, MBA
I had the invaluable opportunity to attend NAREIM’s Executive Officer Meeting as a Barclay Fellow in October 2020.
The Covid-19 pandemic was raging on and our meeting, like many others, was held virtually. A major part of the discussion centered around coping with the disruptions brought on by the pandemic, including restrictions on travel and in-person presence.
As ‘walking the ground’ has been a critical, tried-and-trusted part of the due diligence process, how would managers navigate the new constraints to ensure they understand the assets? Would any new practices and innovations become a permanent part of due diligence?
I spoke with four NAREIM members from major investment firms to hear their perspectives, and a few interesting themes emerged from our conversations. In the following article they discuss:
There is no substitute for walking the ground
Increasing importance of having strong partners
Increasing focus on data management and adoption of technologies
Anh Duc Tran is a Class of 2020–2021 NAREIM Jeff Barclay Fellow. He holds an MBA degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
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