Member profile: Marc Louargand, Ph.D., CRE, FRICS, Principal, Saltash Partners

06/01/2009 21:59

Marc Louargand, Ph.D., CRE, FRICS Principal, Saltash Partners 1189 Prospect Avenue West Hartford, CT 06105 Contact Marc Louargand Marc Louargand has forty three years of experience in specialty property economics, market analysis, finance, portfolio strategy, investment strategy, property securities and angel investment. Marc’s current occupational responsibility involves having an angel investment company that capitalizes young companies. He continues to be active in property markets as an investor, consultant, and advisor. Q. Why did you opt to pursue a career in this industry? I grew up in post-war California, spending weekends looking at land purchases with my parents. They had professional careers but focused on property as a means of wealth-building. I became active in development and property management while in college and have been in the industry since the mid-1960s. Q. Do you have specific areas of expertise or specialist interest? I have spent a major part of my career in investment management and strategy. I also spent 20 years as an academic where I focused on integrating property markets with mainstream finance. Q. What has been a career or project highlight?  As a co-founder of Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers and its Chief Investment Strategist, I had the good fortune to help design the organization and guide it to success and growth for 15 years. Our efforts grew the business from $800 million in assets under management to $10 billion in AUM while adding REIT investment and global strategies to our competencies. We delivered exemplary performance for our investors during those years. Q. Has being a member of RICS helped your professional career? As I travelled and worked more in Asia in recent years I have come to realize how important RICS is in the global property markets. I plan to rely on my RICS colleagues as I broaden my global activities. Q. Have you attended any networking or industry events that RICS Americas participated in? I spoke at the Americas conference in 2007 and found that the contact and content value of these meetings is very high.