Skill Sets: REF

As the real estate market has been in a worse shape, we have often heard lay-offs and hiring freeze anywhere. To be sure, many real estate funds have difficulties increasing assets; instead, major jobs are now shifted to the re-finance or liquidation.

However, it is also true that there is a gap between what employers are looking for and what employees are providing in capabilities. Thinking again what kind of skill sets are sought by real estate funds in market, I can raise three important skill sets: REF. R stands for real estate, which is our underlying asset class. F stands for finance, for we are a leveraged equity player. Last, E is E for English. Global players have heavily invested in Japan's properties and what counts is to communicate our asset management highlights with foreign investors in English.

Looking around, we soon see a limited number of professionals can meet REF criteria. English-speaking real estate professionals are small in number; therefore, sort of scarcity value is added to such qualified people in the market.