Navigating the Landscape of Real Estate
Scott Owens—Moderator, Graystone Consulting
Andrew Brett, Intercontinental Real Estate
Preston Sargent, Bailard, Inc.
Dara Friedman, BentallGreenOak

Scott Owens

An Institutional consultant with Graystone Consulting Tampa’s Team, Scott has over 30 years of experience. Mr. Owens’ primary focus is to develop, implement and monitor customized investment portfolios based on the clients unique objectives and constraints. Since 1998, he has specifically focused on advising public retirement plans, defined contribution plans, corporations, endowments and foundations. He has specialized training with Modern Portfolio Theory, Behavioral Finance and Investment Manager Evaluation and Selection. Mr. Owens holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, and the Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) designation. To hold these designations, Scott is required to maintain an ongoing commitment to professional education and maintain a consistently high level of compliance with the ethical standards of the investment industry. Mr. Owens has earned Bachelor’s degrees in both economics and finance, from the Florida State University. He is a member of the Georgia Association of Public Pension Trustees (GAPPT), the Florida Public Pension Trustee Association (FPPTA) and along with the Texas Public Employee Retirement System is a panelist and speaker at the organization’s pension conferences. In addition, he is a member of the Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA), the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute (CFA) and the CFA Society of Tampa Bay

Andrew Brett

Andrew Brett has primary responsibility for consultant relations while broadly supporting Intercontinental’s mission of highly dedicated institutional services. Andrew works closely with Portfolio Management and Research together with other departments across the Company in order to advance the Company’s Institutional Services practice.Prior to joining Intercontinental, Andrew spent over 14 years at New England Pension Consultants (“NEPC”), a leading investment advisory firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. He was a Principal of the Firm, spent the last five years as Director of Real Assets Research and served on the Firm’s Alternative Asset Committee.
Andrew earned a B.A. in Economics from Union College and holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation. Andrew is a member of Intercontinental’s Investment Committee and ESG Committee.

Preston Sargent

Preston is an Executive Vice President and leads Bailard’s real estate investment efforts. His responsibilities include portfolio management, sourcing of acquisition opportunities, and overseeing the evaluation, due-diligence, and closing of new investments. Preston has been in the real estate investment and advisory business for over 35 years. Prior to joining Bailard, he was an Executive Vice President and Principal at Kennedy Associates (now Bentall GreenOak) where he was in charge of Asset Management and Portfolio Manager of Kennedy’s $8BN ODCE Fund. Before Kennedy, Preston was a Vice President and Regional Team Leader at GE Investments in Stamford, CT. And prior to GE, he held positions in acquisitions, asset management, and debt workout at Aetna Realty Investors, William Blair Realty, and LaSalle Partners.

Preston is an active member of the Urban Land Institute and the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers (NAREIM). Over the past 25 years he has been a frequent speaker, moderator, and panelist at a variety of industry conferences. Preston holds a JD Degree from Case Western Reserve University and a BA Degree from Colorado College. He is married, has three grown children, and enjoys skiing, golf, hiking, and climbing

Dara Friedman

Dara Friedman is a Managing Director and Portfolio Manager of the BentallGreenOak U.S. Core Plus Fund. In addition to her portfolio management responsibilities, she focuses on new product development efforts and U.S. acquisition strategies throughout the platform.

Dara joined the firm as Senior Vice President and Co-Portfolio Manager of the U.S. Strategic Value Fund from Morgan Stanley Real Estate Advisors in 2017. At Morgan Stanley, Dara executed over $2 billion of real estate acquisitions through various asset classes, including office, multifamily, nonperforming loans, land development, and hospitality.

Prior to Morgan Stanley, Dara was an investment associate within the Structured Finance Group at CapitalSource Finance and an analyst in the Real Estate Investment Banking Group at Banc of America Securities.

Dara holds an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, politics, and economics from the University of Pennsylvania.