Bowen Buzz McCoy

Bowen H. “Buzz” McCoy, formerly responsible for the real estate financing unit at Morgan Stanley, is a ULI life trustee and president of Buzz McCoy Associates, Inc., in Los Angeles. His recent books are Living into Leadership: A Journey in Ethics (Stanford University Press, 2007) and The Dynamics of Real Estate Capital Markets: A Practitioner’s Perspective (ULI, 2006).

Sixty leading figures in real estate capital markets came together in New York City in December to participate in the 22nd annual ULI/McCoy Symposium on Real Estate Finance. The annual invitation-only event was attended by a wide array of real estate industry participants. Because Chatham House rules, which provide anonymity to speakers to encourage openness and the sharing of information, applied to the discussions, the following is a summary of the key findings and themes of the symposium.
This year’s 21st annual ULI/McCoy Symposium on Real Estate Finance, titled “Real Estate Investment and Finance in a Post-Q.E. World,” found participants to be quite positive regarding what that world will look like in 2015.
What happens when the Federal Reserve Bank fully tapers off its massive liquidity support for the economy and the capital markets, including real estate—and when is it likely to occur—were major questions discussed at the 20th annual ULI McCoy Finance Seminar in New York City in December.
Given the turmoil and volatility in financial markets that have been reported in the daily press, participants at the ULI McCoy Symposium on Real Estate Finance were surprisingly optimistic. Their reasons: The Federal Reserve has suggested that interest rates will remain at historically low levels until at least mid-2015.
Nearly three dozen of the country’s top money minds spoke frankly about navigating the ongoing credit crisis. Here is a glimpse of their off-the-record meeting.
The U.S. Federal Reserve System is dealing with the most complicated set of circumstances in at least the past 25 years, said speakers at ULI’s 17th annual McCoy Symposium on Real Estate Finance, held in New York City in December. Read about some of the observations and predictions offered during the event.
The current financial crisis has been a transformative event in global economic history whose ultimate resolution likely will reshape politics and economics for at least a generation. Banking crises tend to be prolonged; stimulus packages do not appear to shorten the duration of the crisis and add to excessive government debt. What are the five characteristics of the aftermath of a financial crisis?
An allegory for the financial industry’s present condition might be that of a red-tailed hawk soaring above the Manhattan skyline, flying at full speed toward the sheer wall of a glass-enclosed skyscraper—and relying on the transparency of the glass for protection from undue risk. The crisis occurs, and the bird falls fluttering to the ground with a broken wing.

Is this the bird’s fault? Is it a law of nature? Should the glass have etching or cross ribs to alert the bird to the danger? Can the bird recover? Can it recover by itself, without outside help? Will it ever soar again? Will it ever fly again with uninhibited grace? What resources should be applied to its recovery? Is it too rare a bird to fail?

Despite some initial signs of a return to stability, conditions in the U.S. commercial real estate capital markets are as severe as ever—and likely to remain that way.
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