Simon Durkin, Director is Global Head of Real Estate Research and Analytics for BlackRock’s Real Estate Equity business. He has over 25 years’ experience in real estate strategy and research and with his team is responsible for creating market research outputs, speaking with clients about BlackRock’s Houseview’s and representing the platform at industry conferences and with media. He is a member of the Global Value Add Real Estate Investment Committee and the European Core Real Estate Investment Committee. Before joining BlackRock in 2018, Simon held the position of Head of Real Estate at BNP Paribas Real Estate leading a team of economists and forecasters. At BNP he was responsible for supporting clients through their investment process and was also responsible for delivering insightful and intelligent property research working closely with BNP Paribas investment bank. Prior to BNP Paribas he was Head of Research & Strategy for Deutsche Asset Management’s real assets business (formerly RREEF) providing strategic research and advice to investors and the wider market. Working closely with product development and capital raising teams, Simon also held a position on the European investment committee for real estate and infrastructure, ensuring that asset level decisions were fully supported by strong research led fundamentals. He has also held senior positions at PPR Inc (part of the CoStar Group) and IPD (now MSCI). Simon holds a degree in Real Estate and Finance from the City University in London, and holds an MBA from Warwick University Business School. He is a member of the Investment Property Forum, the Society of Property Researchers, and the Urban Land institute where he also sits on the Technology & Real Estate Council. He is a regular speaker at industry events and conferences, is regularly published in industry media and is an SMCR Certified person.
