Zoe Hughes is Helping Leaders Managing Trillions of Dollars Trust Each Other with What's Working (and What's Not)
Picture this. You run a conference, a big one. The people who attend your conference represent organizations that collectively manage trillions of dollars in assets, money that supports retirees no less. They come to your event for insight into what they should and should not do, but they won't get much out of that experience unless they can trust each other with what's going well and what's going poorly across massive portfolios. You shape the environment where all of this happens. So what are you gonna do? How do you handle that? Fortunately, your name is Zoe Hughes. And you have earned a lot of people's trust. Zoe is CEO of the Pension Real Estate Association, or PREA for short. She is not an investment professional. Her early career was actually in journalism, which makes sense, because she studies people: how they learn, when and why they're willing to be vulnerable, and how to design spaces that put them at ease, especially when the stakes are high. Zoe spoke with Camber Creek Head of Platform Lionel Foster and Managing Partner Jake Fingert shortly after PREA’s most recent conference. 1:28 Why Zoe was initially reluctant to do this interview. 2:01 The Pension Real Estate Association's members have trillions of dollars in assets under management 3:40 Zoe’s unconventional path to becoming PREA CEO and her work as a journalist. 7:14 Zoe and PREA are in listening mode as PREA develops a new three-year strategy. 12:00 Why PREA encourages people to run at 6 a.m. during the main day of the conference. 14:00 The importance of multi-sensory learning. Expanding beyond panel-only formats. 21:41 How better connectivity builds trust. 25:00 Real versus performative vulnerability in professional settings. 26:20 How members can become more involved in PREA beyond conferences. 30:00 A behind-the-scenes look at organizing a PREA conference
