3rd Annual Boca Finance and Real Estate Conference

Florida Atlantic's College of Business is delighted to invite you to the 3rd Annual Boca Finance and Real Estate Conference.

Building on the success of previous BFREC 2024 and 2025 editions, this year's conference once again will be held in person in the Schmidt Family Complex on Florida Atlantic University's Boca Raton, Florida campus. The conference will take place on Thursday, November 12, and Friday, November 13, 2026, bringing together leading academics, industry professionals, policymakers, and practitioners to discuss the latest developments in finance and real estate. We look forward to welcoming you for two days of engaging presentations, insightful discussions, and valuable networking opportunities.

In addition to academic sessions on finance and real estate, the conference will feature a Real Estate Industry Session on Thursday (Nov. 12) afternoon, highlighting presentations on the state of the economy, commercial real estate market trends, and other timely issues affecting the local and national real estate industry.

On Friday (Nov.13) afternoon, the conference will conclude with a panel of leading researchers examining the banking sector's significant exposure to commercial real estate. Panelists will present their latest research findings and discuss the implications for financial stability, lending markets, and the broader economy.

Keynote Speaker

David C. Ling, University of Florida

The Performance of Listed REITs vs. Private Market Alternatives: Why are REIT Allocations so Low?

In the early 1990s, Sam Zell declared that the traditional model of privately-owned commercial real estate (CRE) was dead. He famously predicted a massive, permanent shift of quality CRE from private hands into publicly traded (listed) REITs. This transformation has not occurred--percentage allocations to listed REITs among institutional investors have not budged. This despite the persistently poor (average) performance of typical private market CRE investment vehicles over an extended period of time, especially closed-end funds. This presentation summarizes some of the relevant research and discusses the explanations offered for the aversion to listed real estate among many institutional investors. The author’s main takeaway? Investor like the “phony happiness” provided by reported private market returns that are smoothed and lagged (some would say made up).  

Conference program and academic participant list coming soon

For conference questions, please contact FinanceConference@fau.edu