2nd Annual Boca Finance and Real Estate Conference

We are delighted to invite you to the 2nd Annual Boca Finance and Real Estate Conference. Building upon the success of our inaugural BFREC held in Dec. 2024, this year's conference once again will be held in person in the Schmidt Family Complex on the campus of Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida, USA on the 13th and 14th of November 2025.

The conference theme once again is “Interest-Rate Risk and its Impact on Banking and Real Estate.” The unprecedented increase in interest rates orchestrated by the Federal Reserve Board during 2022 – 2023 has profoundly affected the values of long-duration securities as well as the values of fixed-rate mortgages and commercial real estate.

The conference offers an interdisciplinary forum to gain feedback on timely working papers from scholars in the accounting, economics, finance, and real estate disciplines. Interest rates have remained stubborly high since 2023, in spite of three rate cuts by the Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee. What once was "extend and pretend" has morphed into "delay and pray" for significant declines in market interest rates.

In addition to academic sessions on finance, real estate and ESG, the conference will feature two keynote speeches (TBA), and panel discussions focused on issues affecting commercial real estate.

Conference Highlights

Plenary Panel Sessions:

Real Estate: Date/Time: 1:00 pm, Thursday, Nov. 13th

Panel Discussion: Critical Issues facing the Commercial Real Estate Industry

- Moderator: Prof. Susan Wachter

- Panelist: Prof. Randy Anderson

- Panelist: TBA

Finance: Date/Time: 1:00 pm, Friday, Nov. 14th

Panel Discussion: Critical Issues facing the Banking Industry

- Moderator: Prof. Rebel Cole

- Panelist: TBA

Other Panel Sessions:

Residential Real Estate Panel (9:30 am, Thursday, Nov. 13):

Panelists:

- Prof. Eli Beracha (Florida International University)

- Prof. Ken Johnson (University of Mississippi)

Commercial Real Estate Panel (11:00 am, Thursday, Nov. 13)

Panelists:

- TBA

Commercial Banking Panel (2:30 pm, Friday, Nov. 14)

Panelists:

- TBA

Closing Plenary Session: Florida's Top 10 Best Banks (4:00 pm, Friday, Nov. 14):

Prof. Rebel Cole will announce the inaugural winners of FAU's Banking Initiative "Best Bank" awards for:

1. Residential Mortgage Lending.

2. Commercial Mortgage Lending.

3. Small-Business Lending.

4. Savings

Questions about the conference should be directed to

Rebel A. Cole: coler@fau.edu or

Anita Pennathur: pennathu@fau.edu