Publications

- June 1, 2015: Vol. 27, Number 6

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Take Five: A brief intermission with Elliot Faulkner

by Elliot Faulkner

Elliot Faulkner is head of real estate investments, Farmers Insurance Group.

What is different about insurance investment?

Insurance investment must take into consideration several factors that do not pertain to the typical institutional investor. Firstly, as a property and casualty insurance company, our assets are funded by short-term liabilities. Secondly, we are a for-profit enterprise that is subject to complicated tax laws that only apply to insurers. Finally, we are subject to regulatory oversight that could restrict our investment activities, including the size and location of our real estate investments.

What do you consider the real estate story of the decade?

Sam Zell’s sale of Equity Office Properties to The Blackstone Group in 2007. As you know, Blackstone acquired EOP and then flipped it — in pieces over time — for a remarkable profit by simply unraveling Zell’s strategy of scale and liquidity. And, just to show off

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