Driving Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion: Empowering Change in The Real Estate Finance Industry

Join our panel of esteemed senior leaders across the real estate industry as they passionately discuss the incredible transformations happening across our field regarding diversity, equity and inclusion, and ways to inspire inclusion and empower the next generation to create a lasting impact.

Moderator:
Andrea Carpenter, Director, Diversity Talks Real Estate 

Panelists:
Emily Stew, REF Partner, Jones Day
Josephine Jones, Head of Strategic Capital, Knight Frank
Eleonora Pulci, Head of International Financing, NREP
Mathew Crowther, Managing Director, PGIM Real Estate
Duncan Parvin, Managing Director, Wells Fargo

Be part of shaping the future of real estate finance. Submit questions with your RSVP. 
Organised by the CREFC Europe Women’s Committee in celebration of International Women's Day (IWD), a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.

This event takes place 2 weeks after IWD and is open to ALL CREFC Europe members.

New to CREFC Europe? Look for our yellow badges and we’ll help you connect!
#InspireInclusion

Biographies:

Andrea Carpenter, Director, Diversity Talks Real Estate 

Andrea Carpenter is a director of Diversity Talks Real Estate, and a writer and communications consultant in the property industry.

As a Director of Diversity Talks Real Estate, Andrea helps raise the visibility of under-represented groups in the industry through the stage and media. On the writing side, her book about the history of the modern European property industry, High Rise and Fall, was published by Routledge in September 2018.
Andrea is also currently working as a consultant for the Urban Land Institute on its C Change programme, which is designed to help speed up and scale up decarbonisation in the European real estate industry.

Andrea began her career as a journalist at Property Week before moving on to be editor of EuroProperty for seven years. Following this she worked for various industry bodies including the Urban Land Institute, INREV in Amsterdam, and its sister organisation ANREV in Hong Kong. She also worked as Head of Marketing and Communications EMEA at CBRE Investment Management (then CBRE Global Investors). In 2023, Andrea was awarded the ULI European Trish Barrigan Award for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. 

Lucy Scott, Deputy Editor, Real Estate Capital Europe
Lucy Scott is a financial journalist and deputy editor of Real Estate Capital Europe, a publication dedicated to lending and borrowing in the industry. Her recent writing, which was shortlisted for an award, has included stories on the impact of climate crisis on valuation, the refinancing challenge, and an analysis of the gender inequality of the lending industry.  

https://www.recapitalnews.com/is-the-real-estate-debt-industry-opening-the-door-to-equality/
 
Emily Stew, REF Partner, Jones Day
Emily Stew advises on a wide variety of finance transactions, with a particular focus on domestic and cross-border real estate finance. She represents financial institutions, private equity funds, alternative capital providers, and corporate borrowers.

Emily has significant experience in financing the acquisition and development of real estate across different asset classes, including residential, office, retail, student accommodation, and logistics. Emily's recent notable transactions have included advising Greystar Real Estate Partners, LLC, and Henderson Park in connection with the financing of the acquisition and development of an 894-home build-to-rent (BTR) residential project located in Nine Elms, London and the modular construction of a 550-apartment residential development in Croydon, London. Emily has advised Cortland Partners and Harrison Street in connection with the financing of the acquisition and development of BTR residential scheme in Greater London. Emily is recommended for real estate finance in Chambers and Legal 500 UK guides.

Josephine Jones, Head of Strategic Capital, Knight Frank
Josephine is Head of Strategic Capital at Knight Frank, primarily involved in capital raising and debt financing across all real estate sectors. 

Josephine has nearly two decades experience of originating, structuring, executing, and advising on private debt finance, and has held roles including Head of Credit & Lending, Asia Pacific, and MD, Real Estate Finance, Asia for HSBC’s Global Banking division.  Over her banking careers she has led over $30bn in transactions across Europe, Australasia, and Asia, predominantly for large institutions. Her experience spans leveraged finance, infrastructure finance, corporate M&A and real estate finance.  As a thought leader, she has led a number of firsts including the first Term Loan B in Australia, the first LBO in the Maldives, and the first cross-collateralised green portfolio financing in India. 
Josephine holds an MA and BA from Oxford University, a diploma in Italian Language and Culture, the CFA designation, and a Level 7 Diploma in Non-Executive Board Directorship.

Eleonora Pulci, Head of International Financing, NREP
Eleonora Pulci is Head of International Financing at NREP – Part of Urban Partners – the impact-led Nordic Investment Manager. Based in London, she is responsible for Fund Finance across all investment verticals as well as leading bank relationships in Europe for the real estate business.
Prior to joining NREP Eleonora was a Managing Director at BNP Paribas in the Real Estate Capital Markets division of CIB. She started her career in Italy at Archon Group and over the course of 20 years has held various roles in banking and real estate advisory across Europe.

Mathew Crowther, Managing Director, PGIM Real Estate

Mathew Crowther is a senior portfolio manager of the “PGIM Real Estate Capital” (PRECap) series of debt funds, with over $5 billion of capital raised for junior debt, mezzanine debt, preferred capital and co-invest equity investments, having closed over 110 investments since inception in 2009. Mathew is a member of the European Executive Council, the European Investment Committee, and the Global Value-Add Debt Investment Committee.

Mathew joined PGIM Real Estate in 2009 to establish one of the first non-bank real estate debt platforms in Europe. The PRECap platform has funded residential and commercial schemes (including development) in the UK (both London and the regions) in addition to Germany, France, Spain, Italy Ireland, Netherlands, and Belgium.
Prior to joining PGIM Real Estate, Mathew was an assistant director in the Real Estate Finance group at investment bank NM Rothschild. Before Rothschild, Mathew was a senior lawyer with Clifford Chance’s Structured Finance Group.
 
Duncan Parvin, Managing Director, Wells Fargo
Duncan is a Managing Director in the commercial real estate (“CRE”) team, responsible for a team of relationship managers. Duncan has been with Wells Fargo for over 15 years and during that time has worked in several areas of the bank. Duncan is a member of the CRE DE&I counsel whose goal is to promote the advancement of the diversity, equity and inclusion agenda in the wider commercial real estate market while continuing to foster and develop a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment within the commercial real estate team. He is also an ally to the Bank’s European Black Connections Network, Pride Network, and Asian Connections Network. Externally Duncan is a repeat mentor for Women in Banking and Finance (WIBF) and was runner up for the 2023 WIBF Mentor of the Year Award, he also volunteers for Career Ready, a UK social mobility charity.