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 will once again 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.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE EVENT Program - LAST UPDATED 10/23/2026
Keynote Speaker
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).
Panel Discussions
In addition to academic sessions in finance and real estate and our exclusive keynote presentation by David Ling, the conference will feature three industry-focused panels connecting academic research with timely issues facing the finance and real estate industries:Banking Panel | November 12
The State of Bank Lending: Florida and the National Outlook
This session will explore the current bank lending environment, with a particular focus on trends and conditions in Florida. Panelists will share their perspectives on what they are seeing in the market, key factors influencing lending activity, and how Florida compares with broader national trends.
Expert Panelists: Moishe Gubin, Keith Costello, Jason Alpert
AI Panel | November 12
Beyond the Chatbot: Practical AI for Finance and Real Estate Research
Explores practical applications of AI across the research process, from developing questions and reviewing literature to organizing evidence, analyzing data, and preparing manuscripts. Drawing on examples from finance and real estate, it introduces AI agents, reusable instructions, and connections to familiar tools such as spreadsheets, web browsers, and GitHub. The discussion emphasizes giving AI the right project context, checking its work, and keeping researchers in control. Attendees will leave with concrete ideas for building AI workflows that support their expertise and make research more efficient.
Expert Panelists: Cayman Seagraves, Stace Sirmans
Commercial Real Estate Panel | November 13
The CRE Debt Landscape: From CMBS to Banks and Beyond
This panel will examine today’s commercial real estate debt market from three distinct perspectives: the Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS) market, bank commercial real estate lending, and the use of mezzanine debt to bridge gaps in the capital stack for CRE refinancing transactions. Panelists will discuss current market conditions, financing challenges, and the evolving strategies being used to structure and complete deals.
Expert Panelists: Larry Cordell, Dave Glancy, Constantine "Tino" Korologos
For conference questions, please contact FinanceConference@fau.edu.
Previous Conferences