Investments in a Post-COVID Era
Insurers search for yield in a low rate environment. In a rapidly evolving world, insurers prepare for future uncertainty related to interest rates and the credit cycle. Private credit, commercial real estate, and alternatives bring opportunity, but also risk
Sign Up
Agenda shown in EDT.
-
Agenda
-
10:00
-
10:05
Moody’s Views: The Post Pandemic Economy: Will these twenties roar or whimper?
- The recovery has begun, how long will it sustain?
- Inflation: Are markets worrying too much or not enough?
- The macro implications of the future of work
-
10:20
-
10:50
Panel Discussion: Real estate investing in a post-COVID era
- What is the current state of the commercial real estate market?
- How has COVID changed commercial real estate?
- What are the biggest uncertainties related to the future of real estate?
- How can insurers balance opportunity with risk in real estate investing?
-
11:35
End
-
-
SpeakersRobert Merck Senior Managing Director, Global Head of Real Estate and Agricultural Finance MetLife Investment Management
Anne Walsh, JD, CFA Chief Investment Officer Guggenheim Partners
Victor Calanog Head of CRE Economics Moody's Analytics
Manoj Jethani Vice President - Senior Credit Officer Moody's Investors Service
Marc R. Pinto, CFA Managing Director, Financial Institutions and Global Co-Head of Insurance Moody's Ratings
Scott Robinson, CFA Associate Managing Director, Financial Institutions Moody's Ratings
Loading feed
Confirm cancellation
Something went wrong.
An error occurred trying to play the stream. Please reload the page and try again.
CloseSign In
Please sign in to your account:
Marc R. Pinto, CFA is a Managing Director in the Financial Institutions Group, responsible for insurance credit ratings and research as the Co-Head of Global Insurance. Previously, Mr. Pinto was the Global Head of the Funds & Asset Management Group and the Chief Credit Policy Officer for North American Banks.
Mr. Pinto is also an Executive Sponsor for Moody’s Network of CFA Charterholders and the Global Administrative Professionals (GAP) Network, as well as a Mentor Advisor in the Mentoring Program within the Women’s Business Resource Group. He is also a contributing member to Moody’s CORE (Creating Opportunities for Racial Equity) initiative. Additionally, Mr. Pinto is a member of the Asset Management Committee which oversees Moody’s US retirement savings plans and global pension plan.
Prior to Moody’s, Mr. Pinto worked as a sell-side, buy-side and credit rating agency analyst in both New York and London. He led Credit and Economics Research in EMEA and the Americas at Merrill Lynch, where he was also a top-ranked financial institutions analyst. Previously, he was the Head of Corporate Bond Strategy at broker/dealer Susquehanna International, a portfolio manager at KBW Asset Management, now part of Stifel Financial, and a Director at Fitch Ratings. Mr. Pinto began his career at the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Rome.
Mr. Pinto is a graduate of Columbia Business School and Trinity College (CT).
Mr. Robinson is an Associate Managing Director in the Life Insurance Group at Moody’s Investors Service. He is responsible for managing analysts who cover a broad array of life and health insurance companies. Prior to joining Moody’s in 1999, Mr. Robinson worked in the Investment Policy and Strategy Group of the Trust Company of the West. Previously he had been with AXA Financial. Mr. Robinson holds a degree in economics from Duke University and a Masters Degree in Actuarial Science from Georgia State University. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a CFA charterholder.
Chief Investment Officer, Guggenheim Partners Investment Management and Managing Partner, Guggenheim Partners
Ms. Walsh is Chief Investment Officer for Guggenheim Partners Investment Management where she is responsible for meeting the investment needs of the firm’s fixed-income clients, including insurance companies, corporate and public pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations, consultants, wealth managers, and high-net-worth investors. In her role she oversees all elements of portfolio design, strategy, sector allocation, and risk management of fixed-income portfolios, as well as conveying Guggenheim’s macroeconomic outlook to portfolio managers and fixed-income sector specialists. She also serves as head of the Portfolio Construction Group and Portfolio Management teams. Ms. Walsh is also a Managing Partner of Guggenheim Partners.
Ms. Walsh has over 35 years of experience in investment management, and her specialization in liability-driven portfolio management derives from her deep background in insurance asset management. Before joining Guggenheim in 2007 she served as chief investment officer at Reinsurance Group of America, and as vice president and senior investment consultant at Zurich Scudder Investments. Ms. Walsh also served in senior investment roles at Lincoln Investment Management and American Bankers Insurance Group. Ms. Walsh holds a BSBA and MBA from Auburn University and a JD from the University of Miami School of Law. She has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation and is a member of the CFA Institute.
Manoj Jethani is a Vice President – Senior Analyst in the US life insurance team within the financial institutions group at Moody’s Investor Service where he has lead analyst responsibility for a portfolio of US life insurers. Manoj is also a speaker at internal and external conferences and investor events on insurance related topics and maintains ongoing dialogue with investors, media, intermediaries, and rated insurance companies. Prior to joining Moody’s in 2006, he worked as an actuary at a private actuarial consulting firm in Stamford, CT and as a credit analyst at Mashreq Bank in Dubai, UAE where he was responsible for the monitoring and reporting of the bank’s retail product portfolio, which included credit cards, auto loans and personal loans.
Manoj holds a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems and Finance from the University of Connecticut and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) with a specialization in Accounting and Corporate Finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Robert R. Merck is a senior managing director and global head of real estate and agricultural finance in MetLife Investment Management. In this role, Merck is responsible for managing the $100 billion commercial mortgage and equity real estate portfolio, as well as its $22 billion agricultural investments portfolio. In this capacity, he oversees a staff of approximately 350 investment professionals, both domestic and international.
Merck started his career with MetLife in 1982 and has served in various capacities in real estate investments. Since assuming overall responsibility for the real estate and agricultural portfolios, Merck has implemented strategic initiatives and a risk management focus that have strengthened the portfolios, raised the profile of the franchise and positively impacted the financial results of the business. Under Merck, the commercial and agricultural mortgage portfolios have more than doubled in size and the platforms have expanded internationally. Under his leadership, MetLife has diversified its real estate equity portfolio, in part through the $5.4 billion sale of Peter Cooper Village / Stuyvesant Town, one of the largest real estate transactions in history. In addition, Merck was responsible for launching the firm’s new investment management business in 2012.
Merck received a B.B.A. degree from Emory University where he graduated with highest honors and earned his M.B.A from Georgia State University. Merck is Executive Sponsor of MetLife’s Military Veterans Network. He also serves on the Real Estate Advisory Board of the Emory Goizueta Business School, is a Trustee of the Urban Land Institute and serves on the Boards of Directors of the Real Estate Roundtable.
Victor Calanog is Head of Commercial Real Estate Economics for Moody’s Analytics. Prior to the acquisition by Moody’s Analytics in October 2018, he served as Chief Economist & Senior Vice President of REIS, leading a team of economists and analysts to build, maintain, and customize the firm’s market forecasting, valuation, and real estate portfolio analytics and advisory services.
Dr. Calanog’s research has received awards and fellowship support from several institutions, including the Ford Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation and the Penn Lauder Center for International Business Research.
A prodigious researcher with broad interests, his papers in real estate economics, local government competition, and urban fiscal policy have been presented in meetings of the American Economic Association, the American Finance Association, the Brookings Institution, and discussed in academic forums sponsored by Harvard Business School, Columbia University, Stanford University, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and the Stern School of Business at New York University.
He serves as contributor and peer reviewer for several academic journals, with scientific papers published in the Journal of Banking & Finance, the Journal of the Risk Management Association, and cited in the Journal of Finance, Journal of Public Economics, the World Bank Research Observer, the Brookings Papers on Urban Affairs and Public Administration Review. His assessments of market conditions have appeared in national publications like the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg News, Financial Times, and Reuters News. Dr. Calanog writes several columns on commercial real estate for the National Real Estate Investor and Scotsman Guide. His industry columns have won honors from the American Society of Business Publication Editors and the Risk Management Association.
He serves on the Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance Board of Governors for the Mortgage Bankers Association, as Managing Editor for the CRE Finance Council, and on the Editorial Advisory Board of Real Assets Adviser. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Counselors of Real Estate®(CRE) and is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS).
Dr. Calanog holds a PhD in Applied Economics and Management Science, trained by a dissertation committee composed of faculty from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Business School. In addition, he has an MBA in Finance and an MA in Business and Public Policy, earning the Amy Morse Prize and the Thomas P. Gerrity Leadership Award as the most distinguished PhD and MBA student in his class.
In a previous life, Dr. Calanog was a competitive powerlifter, but he now measures poundage's by how much laundry he does per day. He serves at the behest of Christine, his wife of over twenty years, daughters Samantha and Madison, guinea pigs Midnight and Kale, and puppy Ginger. He enjoys traveling, pestering locals in their own language, and studying geopolitics, history, art, military strategy–and mecha anime.
Robert R. Merck is a senior managing director and global head of real estate and agricultural finance in MetLife Investment Management. In this role, Merck is responsible for managing the $100 billion commercial mortgage and equity real estate portfolio, as well as its $22 billion agricultural investments portfolio. In this capacity, he oversees a staff of approximately 350 investment professionals, both domestic and international.
Merck started his career with MetLife in 1982 and has served in various capacities in real estate investments. Since assuming overall responsibility for the real estate and agricultural portfolios, Merck has implemented strategic initiatives and a risk management focus that have strengthened the portfolios, raised the profile of the franchise and positively impacted the financial results of the business. Under Merck, the commercial and agricultural mortgage portfolios have more than doubled in size and the platforms have expanded internationally. Under his leadership, MetLife has diversified its real estate equity portfolio, in part through the $5.4 billion sale of Peter Cooper Village / Stuyvesant Town, one of the largest real estate transactions in history. In addition, Merck was responsible for launching the firm’s new investment management business in 2012.
Merck received a B.B.A. degree from Emory University where he graduated with highest honors and earned his M.B.A from Georgia State University. Merck is Executive Sponsor of MetLife’s Military Veterans Network. He also serves on the Real Estate Advisory Board of the Emory Goizueta Business School, is a Trustee of the Urban Land Institute and serves on the Boards of Directors of the Real Estate Roundtable.
Chief Investment Officer, Guggenheim Partners Investment Management and Managing Partner, Guggenheim Partners
Ms. Walsh is Chief Investment Officer for Guggenheim Partners Investment Management where she is responsible for meeting the investment needs of the firm’s fixed-income clients, including insurance companies, corporate and public pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and foundations, consultants, wealth managers, and high-net-worth investors. In her role she oversees all elements of portfolio design, strategy, sector allocation, and risk management of fixed-income portfolios, as well as conveying Guggenheim’s macroeconomic outlook to portfolio managers and fixed-income sector specialists. She also serves as head of the Portfolio Construction Group and Portfolio Management teams. Ms. Walsh is also a Managing Partner of Guggenheim Partners.
Ms. Walsh has over 35 years of experience in investment management, and her specialization in liability-driven portfolio management derives from her deep background in insurance asset management. Before joining Guggenheim in 2007 she served as chief investment officer at Reinsurance Group of America, and as vice president and senior investment consultant at Zurich Scudder Investments. Ms. Walsh also served in senior investment roles at Lincoln Investment Management and American Bankers Insurance Group. Ms. Walsh holds a BSBA and MBA from Auburn University and a JD from the University of Miami School of Law. She has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation and is a member of the CFA Institute.
Victor Calanog is Head of Commercial Real Estate Economics for Moody’s Analytics. Prior to the acquisition by Moody’s Analytics in October 2018, he served as Chief Economist & Senior Vice President of REIS, leading a team of economists and analysts to build, maintain, and customize the firm’s market forecasting, valuation, and real estate portfolio analytics and advisory services.
Dr. Calanog’s research has received awards and fellowship support from several institutions, including the Ford Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation and the Penn Lauder Center for International Business Research.
A prodigious researcher with broad interests, his papers in real estate economics, local government competition, and urban fiscal policy have been presented in meetings of the American Economic Association, the American Finance Association, the Brookings Institution, and discussed in academic forums sponsored by Harvard Business School, Columbia University, Stanford University, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and the Stern School of Business at New York University.
He serves as contributor and peer reviewer for several academic journals, with scientific papers published in the Journal of Banking & Finance, the Journal of the Risk Management Association, and cited in the Journal of Finance, Journal of Public Economics, the World Bank Research Observer, the Brookings Papers on Urban Affairs and Public Administration Review. His assessments of market conditions have appeared in national publications like the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg News, Financial Times, and Reuters News. Dr. Calanog writes several columns on commercial real estate for the National Real Estate Investor and Scotsman Guide. His industry columns have won honors from the American Society of Business Publication Editors and the Risk Management Association.
He serves on the Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance Board of Governors for the Mortgage Bankers Association, as Managing Editor for the CRE Finance Council, and on the Editorial Advisory Board of Real Assets Adviser. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Counselors of Real Estate®(CRE) and is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS).
Dr. Calanog holds a PhD in Applied Economics and Management Science, trained by a dissertation committee composed of faculty from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Business School. In addition, he has an MBA in Finance and an MA in Business and Public Policy, earning the Amy Morse Prize and the Thomas P. Gerrity Leadership Award as the most distinguished PhD and MBA student in his class.
In a previous life, Dr. Calanog was a competitive powerlifter, but he now measures poundage's by how much laundry he does per day. He serves at the behest of Christine, his wife of over twenty years, daughters Samantha and Madison, guinea pigs Midnight and Kale, and puppy Ginger. He enjoys traveling, pestering locals in their own language, and studying geopolitics, history, art, military strategy–and mecha anime.
Manoj Jethani is a Vice President – Senior Analyst in the US life insurance team within the financial institutions group at Moody’s Investor Service where he has lead analyst responsibility for a portfolio of US life insurers. Manoj is also a speaker at internal and external conferences and investor events on insurance related topics and maintains ongoing dialogue with investors, media, intermediaries, and rated insurance companies. Prior to joining Moody’s in 2006, he worked as an actuary at a private actuarial consulting firm in Stamford, CT and as a credit analyst at Mashreq Bank in Dubai, UAE where he was responsible for the monitoring and reporting of the bank’s retail product portfolio, which included credit cards, auto loans and personal loans.
Manoj holds a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems and Finance from the University of Connecticut and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) with a specialization in Accounting and Corporate Finance at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
Marc R. Pinto, CFA is a Managing Director in the Financial Institutions Group, responsible for insurance credit ratings and research as the Co-Head of Global Insurance. Previously, Mr. Pinto was the Global Head of the Funds & Asset Management Group and the Chief Credit Policy Officer for North American Banks.
Mr. Pinto is also an Executive Sponsor for Moody’s Network of CFA Charterholders and the Global Administrative Professionals (GAP) Network, as well as a Mentor Advisor in the Mentoring Program within the Women’s Business Resource Group. He is also a contributing member to Moody’s CORE (Creating Opportunities for Racial Equity) initiative. Additionally, Mr. Pinto is a member of the Asset Management Committee which oversees Moody’s US retirement savings plans and global pension plan.
Prior to Moody’s, Mr. Pinto worked as a sell-side, buy-side and credit rating agency analyst in both New York and London. He led Credit and Economics Research in EMEA and the Americas at Merrill Lynch, where he was also a top-ranked financial institutions analyst. Previously, he was the Head of Corporate Bond Strategy at broker/dealer Susquehanna International, a portfolio manager at KBW Asset Management, now part of Stifel Financial, and a Director at Fitch Ratings. Mr. Pinto began his career at the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Rome.
Mr. Pinto is a graduate of Columbia Business School and Trinity College (CT).
Mr. Robinson is an Associate Managing Director in the Life Insurance Group at Moody’s Investors Service. He is responsible for managing analysts who cover a broad array of life and health insurance companies. Prior to joining Moody’s in 1999, Mr. Robinson worked in the Investment Policy and Strategy Group of the Trust Company of the West. Previously he had been with AXA Financial. Mr. Robinson holds a degree in economics from Duke University and a Masters Degree in Actuarial Science from Georgia State University. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a CFA charterholder.