Back with another Canadian Real Estate Forums webinar, Aaron and Adam welcome Blair Welch in this episode. He co-founded Slate Asset Management in 2005, which currently has $6.2 billion of assets under management in Canada, the United States, and Europe.

Blair explains the three key areas that Slate looks at when considering the purchase of an asset. He gets into how his company’s culture was built, how it is being sustained during the covid-19 pandemic, and the importance of diversity in commercial real estate.

Topics covered include:

• How great minds have survived past recessions.
• Slate’s philosophy on real estate.
• How business mixes when you’re in a real estate family.
• Being cautious of how you leverage your assets.
• The work culture at Slate and how it is being maintained during the pandemic.
• The Slate Opportunity Fund and the current strategy behind it.
• Other Slate funds and why Blair considers himself a “thematic investor”.
• Logistics versus retail as it relates to Slate’s grocery store assets.
• Dealing with issues in the United States.
• The work ethic that was instilled in Blair thanks to his family’s farming background.
• Blair’s work history, including his involvement with First National Financial.
• How Slate decided which international markets to enter.
• Slate’s approach towards diversity.
• COVID-19’s effect on office space in Canada.

More about our guest…

Blair Welch co-founded Slate in 2005. Slate is a Toronto-based real estate asset management company with over $6.2B of assets under management across Canada, the U.S. and Europe. Slate manages two TSX-listed public REITs and numerous private institutional funds spanning opportunistic, value-add and core strategies. Working alongside like-minded partners and investors, Slate is building the next great asset manager with an unwavering commitment to generating value. With over 20 years of real estate industry experience in North America, Europe and Asia, Blair has worked in direct investment, investment banking, development and securitization. Blair has been fortunate to work with exceptional people at pioneering firms such as Fortress Investment Group; Bankers Trust; First National Financial Corporation and Brazos Advisors (now Lone Star).

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