How Bain Capital's head of real estate navigates economic disruption

Ryan Cotton, Bain Capital's head of real estate, stated that the U.S. economy faces a cocktail of disruption driven by macro shocks, oversupply, and shifting demand patterns like artificial intelligence. These factors have complicated real estate valuations, led to delayed deals, and slowed overall market volume. To counter this volatility, Cotton takes a long-term approach over a ten-year horizon. This strategy steers investments away from traditional markets like offices, malls, and oversupplied multifamily properties, guiding capital instead toward emerging and alternative asset classes such as student housing, self-storage, private airplane hangars, and marinas.