Martin Schmalz appointed to lead the Oxford Future Real Estate Initiative, in new role 

Commenting on his new role, Martin, Professor of Finance, Economics, and Real Estate, said: ‘I am incredibly pleased to take on the lead of such an important initiative at Oxford Saïd. Our continued research in the field is critical to informed decision-making. I look forward to taking on the role, working with colleagues and key partners, and continuing our important contribution to the industry.’ 

The partnership between the Lalji family and the School developed through a shared focus on education and solving global challenges, such as housing and climate change. Commenting on the new appointment, the Lalji family said: ‘We are thrilled to have been able to support Oxford Saïd with its first professorship of Real Estate, and to be able to ensure the study and research of the subject at the School for the long term through a dedicated Real Estate Fund. We take great confidence in Martin’s abilities, track record, and energy to drive this work forward, and thank Oxford Saïd for making us a partner in their vision.’

Oxford Saïd Peter Moores Dean, Soumitra Dutta, added: ‘As the world’s largest asset class, the industry affects not only business, but has important implications for society and our environment. We are very grateful for the generous gift by the Lalji family, allowing us to support research to enable a better understanding of real estate’s impact on businesses and our world.’

The Lalji family are in the real estate space, investing and developing real estate for the long term. They work across multiple sectors including hospitality, self storage and industrial and residential, office and life science.

The Oxford Future of Real Estate Initiative is part of a broader strategy to embed real estate within the School. It encompasses a Real Estate elective on the Oxford MBA, an open enrolment executive education programme in Real Estate, a global network of Oxford real estate alumni created through the establishment of the Oxford Real Estate Society, and research available to the public.

The initiative also supports the delivery of the annual Oxford Real Estate Conference. This year’s eighth conference, entitled ‘Real Estate at the Pivot of Two Decades: Past Stability and Future Transformation,’ was held at Oxford Saïd on 7 May, with top industry partners participating. This year’s keynote speaker was Chris Choa, Founder and Director of Outcomist.

Commenting on the event, Katherine Lang, vice chair of OxRES, said: 'The conference covered 20 years of the real estate universe – looking at the past 10 years of relative stability and growth in the sector, and ahead to the transformation that we might expect before 2035 as we face infrastructure risk, regulatory risk, geopolitical risk, climate risk, obsolescence risk, demographic risk... and more. Thank you to all our speakers who generously gave us their time and candidly shared their expertise. And thank you to everyone who joined us at the conference. We hope it provided inspiration, fresh ideas, and new connections in your network.'