AB Disruptor Series: Real Estate’s Present and Future, Part Two—the Residential Market – AllianceBernstein – 9.25.23

Summary:

Now On Demand

Home is where the heart is—but most of America’s household wealth lives there too.

Housing is the biggest asset many of us will ever invest in, and COVID-19 and its related policy decisions caused mass disruption. As mortgage rates plummeted to record lows, refinancing exploded and home values surged. When rates then rebounded to multi-decade highs, housing inventory evaporated.

Many of the big storylines in residential real estate today and tomorrow, however, are actually rooted in the global financial crisis (GFC), translating into diverse investment implications. In our latest AB Disruptor Series episode, a panel of AB experts zeroes in on:

• The Current State in a Post-COVID World: We’ll examine topics including household formation, how growth may (or may not) affect defaults, and the role of policy changes in the post-GFC era. We’ll cover the regional banking story and the outlook for builders and related industries.
• Investment Implications of the Road Ahead: We’ll discuss the widespread existing and developing opportunities in residential real estate—through the lens of investors’ access points in equity and debt markets, both public and private.
• The Future of Residential Real Estate: What will the road look like beyond the nearer-term horizon? How many homes will be needed, and what will they look like? What’s the future of the American Dream—can it still be bought or only rented?

Speakers:

Richard A. Brink is a Senior Vice President and Market Strategist in the Client Group. Previously, he served as a managing director in the Alternatives and Multi-Asset Group. Prior to that role, Brink was a senior portfolio manager in Fixed Income, and before that an investment director for fixed-income investments within the Global Retail Investments Group. Before joining AB in 2004, he was senior product manager at the Dreyfus Corporation, covering both retail and institutional fixed-income offerings. Brink was previously a senior trainer, dealing primarily with the design and delivery of product training to financial advisors and mutual fund sales representatives. He holds a BS in applied mathematics and economics from Stony Brook University, and is a CFA charterholder.

Michael Canter is a Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of AB’s Securitized Assets Fund. His team is responsible for AB’s investments in agency mortgage-backed securities, credit risk–transfer securities, non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities, commercial mortgage-backed securities, collateralized loan obligations and other asset-backed securities. Canter has particularly extensive expertise in residential mortgages. In 2009, AB was selected by the US Department of the Treasury to manage one of nine Legacy Securities Public-Private Investment Program funds; he was the CIO of that AB-managed fund. In addition, Canter was called upon to give expert testimony to the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in 2013 and the US House of Representatives Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance in 2017 on how US housing policy should be structured going forward. Prior to joining AB in 2007, he was the president of ACE Principal Finance, a division of ACE Limited (now Chubb). There, Canter managed portfolios of credit default swaps, asset-backed securities, mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations. He holds a BA in math and economics from Northwestern University and a PhD in finance from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business.

Cem Inal was appointed Chief Investment Officer of US Large Cap Value Equities in 2020, after serving as portfolio manager of US Large Cap Value Equities from 2016 until 2019. He has also served as Portfolio Manager of Global Real Estate Securities since 2023. Inal was previously a senior research analyst and leader of the technology sector. He also co-managed the International Small Cap Value service from its inception in 2014 until 2016. Before joining the firm in 2003 as a research analyst, Inal was a vice president at fusionOne, a communications software provider. Prior to that, he was an engagement manager at McKinsey & Company and a research engineer at Mitsubishi Electric. Inal holds a BSE in electrical engineering from Princeton University and an MBA in financial engineering from Cornell University.

Jess Dvorak is Managing Director for AB CarVal, leading the US Residential Loan Portfolios and RMBS strategy. He joined AB CarVal in 2008 and has led execution of the residential strategy since 2010. Mr. Dvorak previously worked at GMAC ResCap, Opus NW, Boulay, Heutmaker, Zibell & Co, and D.R. Horton. Mr. Dvorak holds a B.A. in accounting from the University of St. Thomas. Mr. Dvorak is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive).