Research & Insights Thinking Globally About Macro Trends & Real Estate

Mike Acton is a Managing Director of the firm and AEW’s Head of Research with responsibility for directing the activities of AEW Research, the firm’s in-house research group. As one of the founding members of AEW Research in 1990, Mike has over three decades of expertise as an economic analyst and forecaster. The resources offered by AEW Research are an essential component of the firm’s successful investment process. He collaborates closely with senior experts from all sectors of the firm to formulate core through opportunistic equity and debt investment strategies that align clients’ risk and reward objectives with prevailing market prospects. Additionally, he played a vital role in shaping the strategy for AEW's listed securities business, which was launched in 1995. During his career, Mike has also actively contributed to the development of various proprietary research tools, notably playing a key role in the creation of the highly regarded and widely read AEW Relative Value Index. His important contributions to the advancement of research on real estate as an institutional asset class led to his 2023 PREA Graaskamp Research Award¹, a prestigious recognition to those who contribute to the common body of knowledge and insights gained through their significant research. He holds a permanent position on the Investment, Risk Management and Compliance Committees within the organization. Prior to joining AEW, he was with DRI/McGraw-Hill where he managed the Metropolitan Area Forecasting Service. He is a graduate of Bates College (B.A.), and a CFA charterholder, as well as a member of the CFA Institute and CFA Society Boston.

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¹PREA members submit nominations for the award. Nominations are reviewed by former winners of the PREA Graaskamp Award, and three finalists are then voted on by the full PREA membership to determine the winner.

Hans Vrensen is Managing Director and Head of Research & Strategy for AEW with responsibility for directing the firm’s research activities in Europe. Based in London, he is a member of the AEW European Investment Committee and a member of the firm’s Global Securities Allocation Committee. Hans' responsibilities include monitoring, evaluating and forecasting the macroeconomic environment, demographic trends and capital market conditions across Europe. He interprets this information for AEW’s senior professionals in order to provide decision support to the investment, asset management and portfolio management activities. Prior to joining AEW, Hans acted as an external consultant to CREFC Europe prior to that served as Global Head of Research for DTZ. He was also the Head of European Securitization Research at Barclays Capital prior to that a Senior Credit Officer at Moody’s Investor Services. Hans has a Masters in Economics from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and a Masters in Real Estate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Hanna Safdar is an Associate Director and Head of Research and Strategy for AEW's Asia Pacific Region where she supports both the direct and indirect investment teams in the region. Ms. Safdar has over ten years of real estate experience which she relies on to provide research and strategy support for all new and existing property investments. She joined AEW in 2018 from Cambridge Associates, where she conducted fund manager research and due diligence projects across Asia Pacific's real estate and infrastructure managers. Prior, she also held a research position at DTZ in Singapore. Ms. Safdar has a B.Sc Real Estate from the National University of Singapore.