At a Crossroads: Real Estate Capital Markets
4:00 PM - 4:50 PM | Klarman Hall
Panel Director: Tal Richtman, MRE ‘25
This panel will examine the pivotal moment facing real estate capital markets as the industry navigates a high-interest-rate environment, constrained financing, and shifting investor sentiment. Top industry experts will discuss strategies for managing market volatility, explore the evolving role of institutional capital, and analyze the impact of tariffs and Trump’s trade war—as well as broader political uncertainty—on capital flows. The conversation will also highlight the asset classes to watch in 2025, offering insights into where capital is heading and how industry players are adapting at this critical juncture.
Moderator and Panelists:
Moderator: Camille Douglas
Principal | Svanninge Capital
Camille J. Douglas is a seasoned real estate executive with over 35 years of experience in investment, development, and finance. She is the Principal of Svanninge Capital, a firm specializing in real estate investment advisory services. Douglas previously served as Senior Managing Director at LeFrak, where she led strategic acquisitions and developments, notably expanding the company's presence in Miami. Her earlier roles include Senior Vice President of Finance at Olympia & York, where she pioneered the use of commercial mortgage-backed securities, and Vice President at Morgan Stanley. Douglas has held board positions at Starwood Property Trust and Tricon Residential. Academically, she is a Lecturer and Senior Fellow at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design and was an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Business School. She holds a Master in Urban Planning from Harvard GSD and a BA from Smith College.
Katie Keenan
Global Co-Chief Investment Officer | Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies
Katie Keenan is the Global Co-Chief Investment Officer of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies (“BREDS”), based in New York. BREDS invests in public and private real estate credit globally on behalf of a variety of institutional, public and insurance capital vehicles. Ms. Keenan is also Chief Executive Officer of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT), a publicly-traded commercial mortgage REIT managed by Blackstone.
Prior to joining Blackstone in 2012, Ms. Keenan held positions at G2 Investment Group, Lubert-Adler Real Estate Funds and in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group at Lehman Brothers.
Ms. Keenan graduated cum laude with an AB in History from Harvard College. She sits on the Board of Directors of Getting Out and Staying Out and the Advisory Board of Governors of NAREIT, and is a member of WX New York Women Executives in Real Estate.
Ryan Cotton
Partner & Head of Real Estate | Bain Capital
Mr. Cotton joined Bain Capital in 2003 and has been a key strategic advisor to the Bain Capital Real Estate team and a member of the Investment Committee since Bain Capital Real Estate’s founding in 2018. Over his two decades at Bain Capital, Mr. Cotton led the global Consumer vertical within Bain Capital’s Global Private Equity business.
Mr. Cotton received an MBA from The Stanford Graduate School of Business where he was a Siebel Scholar, an Arjay Miller Scholar, and received the Alexander A. Robichek Award for Outstanding Achievement in Finance. He received an AB in Philosophy from Princeton University.
Sara Queen
Managing Director and Head of Equity Strategies | MetLife Investment Management
Sara Queen is head of equity strategies for MetLife Investment Management’s (MIM) Real Estate group. Sara is responsible for leading MIM’s $36 Billion direct property investment platform, investing on behalf of the MetLife general account as well as third-party institutional investors, including public and private pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and insurance companies.
Sara joined MIM in March 2021. Before joining MIM, she was with Mapletree Investments, a global real estate development, investment and capital management company headquartered in Singapore, where she was head of the company’s North America business. Prior to Mapletree, Sara spent 11 years at Brookfield Property Partners as head of asset management for the company’s U.S. office portfolio, in addition to overseeing strategic planning and management of their expanding closed end accounts business. Before Brookfield, she spent nine years at Clarion Partners in a variety of asset management and portfolio management roles. Sara began her asset management career at MetLife in 1991, before departing in 1996 to pursue her MBA. She has nearly 30 years of industry experience.
Sara recently served as the board chair for Solar One, an organization which provides education and resources that create more sustainable and resilient urban environments. She was also a member of the Vestry of Trinity Church Wall Street serving on the investment committee overseeing a $5 billion endowment. She is active in numerous real estate organizations and is currently a ULI Global Governing Trustee was Co-Chair of ULI’s 2024 Spring Convention. Sara was the 2017 WX (Women Executives in Real Estate) Woman of the Year.
Sara holds a BA in economics and history from Wellesley College. She also has an MBA from Harvard Business School. Sara is an adjunct professor at Columbia University where she has developed and currently teaches commercial leasing and asset management classes to graduate students as part of the Master of Science of Real Estate Development (MSRED) program.
Todd Eagle
Managing Director in the Real Estate Department | Goldman Sachs
Todd is a Managing Director in Real Estate Investment Banking, where he advises public and private real estate companies on mergers, acquisitions, and financing opportunities. He is also a Managing Director ally of the LGBTQ+ Network.
Todd joined Goldman Sachs in the Real Estate Department as a financial analyst in 1990. After three years, he left to attend business school and rejoined the firm in 1995 as an associate. Following four years in New York, he relocated to London, where he served as Vice President and Head of European Real Estate Investment Banking for four years. He later returned to New York and spent a year in the real estate CMBS joint venture between Investment Banking and Fixed Income.
In 2005, Todd left the firm to pursue two real estate principal investment opportunities. He rejoined Goldman Sachs in 2006 as a Managing Director in the Real Estate Department.
Todd is a member of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, the International Council of Shopping Centers, and the Urban Land Institute. He holds an AB in Engineering Sciences from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.