SAPOA CONVENTION AND PROPERTY EXHIBITION

Last week I attended the SAPOA Convention.  It lived up to expectations and the promise contained on the website, namely:

The 46^th Annual SAPOA International
Convention and Property Exhibition
Cape Town - ICC, 10 - 12 June 2014
South Africa's premier property conference of the year

The SAPOA Annual Convention and Property Exhibition, now in its forty sixth year, has become established as the premium gathering for investors, property owners, lenders, services providers, developers and thought leaders from around the world.

This year's Convention will once again provide a timely opportunity for national and international commercial property professionals to come together and discuss the latest investment opportunities and challenges. The Convention will analyze how commercial practitioners are looking to diversify and strengthen their portfolios, whilst global economies continue to ride out the storm and chart a smooth path to recovery.

Our line up of speakers never disappoints, as they will passionately share their big dreams and elaborate visions on the latest trends in commercial property and create a platform to learn more about development within South Africa's government and private sector.

The Oscars of the property industry, our Innovative Excellence Awards will yet again recognize buildings that make up the timeless beauty of land and through the Property Journalism Awards, SAPOA will once more acknowledge South African property journalists who have made significant contribution to the commercial and industrial property market.            
 

 

 

The Convention kicked off with the Golf Day at the De Zalze Wine and Golf Estate.  I astonished myself with some decent golf and my fourball managed to achieve third place.  However, more importantly, the weather held after raining for several days before and we were able to enjoy a spectacular event with the "captains of the property industry" in South Africa.

 

 

I am really proud of my marketing team, who were busy assembling the Shepperson Attorneys Exhibit at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), while I was waltzing around the Cullinan Hotel and the very beautiful De Zalze. 

 

They transformed our exhibit from this ...

... to this while I was waltzing about (i.e. networking).

 

I am told that there was a record attendance at the Convention.  I believe that over 1300 delegates attended this year.  On the second day, the Convention kicked off in earnest with some excellent speakers.  This continued onto the second day.  The speakers over the two days were:

 

Master of Ceremonies : Eusebius McKaiser

            

Patricia de Lille

Honourable Mayor of Cape Town

            

Estienne de Klerk

SAPOA President

Executive Director, Growthpoint Ltd

Maurice Mdlolo

Managing Director, Liberty Group Properties (Pty) Ltd            

Dr Yuri Maltsev

Economics advisor to Russian President Gorbachev

Lessons for South Africa from the Soviet Union on the Savagery of Socialism

 

Clem Sunter

Scenario Strategist

South Africa Next 5 years - Your Future?

 

Prof Brian Kantor

Non-executive Chairman of Acucap

Real Estate Investments Trust's (REITs)

            

Nesi Chetty

Fund Manager & Head of Property, Momentum Asset Management

Laurence Rapp

Chief Executive Officer, Vukile Property Fund Limited

 

Rüdiger Naumann

Portfolio Manager, Investec Asset Management

Werner Opperman

Manager, Research, RisCura Consulting

 

Kevin Lings

Chief Economist - STANLIB

SA Macro Economic Analysis - Local & Global 

Douw Boshoff

Programme Leader Real Estate BSc & Hons, University of Pretoria

Analysing the property sectors economic impact in South Africa

 

Simon Freemantle

Senior Analyst - Standard Bank Research

Ms Amelia Beattie

Chief Investment Officer - STANLIB Direct Property Investments

Ben Espach

Director of Valuations, Rates Watch

 

Izak Petersen

CEO, Dipula Income Fund

Marc Wainer

CEO, Redefine Properties
 

Rob Kane

Chief Executive Officer, Vunani Investment Property Fund

Veronica Mafoko

Department of Cooperative Governance. Directorate: Municipal Finance and Viability

Michael Jordaan

Ex. Chief Executive Officer - FNB

The coming digital disruption - and what to do about it

Kees Hage

Partner, Global Real Estate Leader at PriceWaterhouseCoopers Luxembourg

A global view of the retail sector in the next 20 years

'Global Trends in Real Estate 2014 & Real Estate 2020 - Building the Future

 

Peter A. Hoijtink

PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Associate Director, Advisory - Strategy & Operations

Consumer Expectations driving the next retail business model in South Africa

Total Retail

        

David Green:

Chief Executive Officer - V & A Waterfront

Maurice De Villiers:

Divisional Director Real Estate Development at Woolworths

Patrick Flanagan,
Executive Director and founder of the Flanagan & Gerard Property Group

Vusi Thembekwayo:

"Rock Star of Public Speaking"

 

Shepperson Attorneys is extremely proud to have been an exhibitor at the Convention this year.  We enjoyed the company of real "property people" during the morning and afternoon tea-breaks, the lunch break and the Cocktail Party.

 

 

 

The Convention concluded with a "Street Party" where the CTICC Ballroom was divided into 4 different parts that contained the music and cuisine of South Africa, Greece, Mexico and New Orleans (USA) respectively.  The whole event kicked off with a carnival ... Cape Town style.

  

 

 

 

 

Gareth Shepperson

Shepperson Attorneys

Corporate, Commercial & Property Law