Every year New York City hosts the Cornell Real Estate Council’s annual conference, bringing together esteemed professionals to discuss some of the most important issues within our industry. This year is no different, where the topic will be Mega Trends. To discuss the topic of Mega Trends affecting real estate, the Cornell Real Estate Council has invited Dr. Tom Arnold of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority to give the keynote speech at this special event.
Thomas (Tom) Arnold joined ADIA in 2009 and is based in Abu Dhabi. As Deputy Global Head & Head of Americas – Real Estate, Tom is responsible for the creation and execution of the sovereign’s investment and business strategy as well as the real estate department’s organizational and professional talent development. Tom is a former chairman of PREA and AFIRE, currently a Trustee and Governor of ULI, and a member of the board of directors of the Real Estate Roundtable.
Most recently, Tom was a partner at Cerberus Capital Management based in New York City. Tom’s responsibility during his six years at Cerberus Capital included the origination and execution of real estate, lending, and private equity transactions. Tom originated investments throughout the capital structure, including common and preferred equity, mezzanine and bridge lending, and senior debt. His investment experience includes both commercial and residential product types, asset level investing and operating platforms, and extensive turnaround and workout roles.
Prior to Cerberus Capital, Tom spent five years at ING as a Managing Director and senior real estate acquisitions officer, overseeing portfolio management and coordinating financing facilities. At both Cerberus and ING, Tom managed key investor relationships and gained significant experience with investment fund design and fund administration, which shaped his research and publishing interests as a doctoral student.
Prior to ING, Tom was a Director at Credit Suisse and a Principal of the Praedium Funds, when those funds were affiliated with Credit Suisse. Tom assumed origination and strategic asset management responsibility, as well as workout and restructuring responsibility. Tom began his real estate principal focus at Salomon Brothers (now Citigroup) with selective firm principal activity as well as related advisory work with financial institutions saddled with troubled loan and REO assets.
Prior to Salomon Brothers, Tom practiced law for five years, principally with Holland & Knight, focusing on real estate, lending, securities, and bankruptcy matters.
Tom holds a Doctor of Business Administration (2017), a Juris Doctorate (1983), and a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics (with honors, 1980) from the University of Florida, a Masters of Business Administration from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College (1991), and a Masters of Law (Taxation) from New York University (1986). Tom is a licensed attorney, and a holder of the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designations. It is with great anticipation that everyone here at the Baker Program looks forward to Tom’s message at the 35th annual Cornell Real Estate Conference.
Follow this link to register for the conference
