Senior Director, Canada Real Estate Research & Strategy

The Senior Director for Canada Real Estate Research & Strategy will work with the global co-heads for research and strategy for real estate private markets. The role will require interfacing with the entire real estate leadership team; the Transactions, Credit and Asset Management teams; and other groups within Manulife Investment Management who engage with the Research & Strategy team for support on executing the Manulife Investment Management Real Estate (“MIM RE”) strategy through commercial and multifamily real estate transactions and asset management. This role will serve as the lead point of contact and expertise for Canada institutional real estate market research, leveraging in-house data resources, external/third party sources, and alternative datasets in support of growing our Canada market-share and refining our Canada House View.

Manulife Investment Management (“MIM”) is the global wealth and asset management segment of Manulife Financial Corporation. MIM's global real estate platform provides investment solutions globally as part of its comprehensive private markets’ capabilities, offering core, core-plus, and value-add strategies.

The global real estate team leverages its global platform and regional market knowledge to identify opportunities and drive results for its clients.  As of September 30, 2024, its sustainably operated platform includes 90 million square feet of office, industrial, retail, and multifamily assets located across Canada, the United States, and the Asia Pacific region, with over $25 billion CAD of real estate (500+ properties). The team is expanding its capabilities to meet evolving market opportunities, building a strong and diverse global culture as an entrepreneurial investment manager.

                                                                                                                                                           

Responsibilities:

Lead Canada market research & intelligence, identifying market trends and extracting insights across the portfolio to aid in strategic decision-makingTranslate market-intelligence views into MIM RE’s Canada investment strategy, including acquisitions and asset management, and across the capital structure in equity and creditDrive the development, authorship, documentation and execution of the MIM RE Canadian House ViewServe as a key Canada research point of contact our team as an expert of market-level economic and commercial real estate trends, with the ability to articulate impact on the MIM RE Canadian investment strategyProviding key support to our acquisitions and asset management teams, including market overviews; rent growth forecasts, with the ability to contribute to modeling efforts and offer subject matter expertise in adjusting rent growth at the market and submarket levels for House View and for underwriting assumptions; and independently develop IC Memo content creationLead Canadian market selection and sector selection process, identifying key markets and submarkets for potential outperformance and underperformance, to be used in the House View; and to drive acquisition strategies, geographic and sector allocations and portfolio diversification effortsWork closely with the MIM RE CIO to craft and develop Strategic Client Plans, specifically offering subject matter expertise in regards to fund diversification and allocationResearch, collect and aggregate internal and external data to model, chart and incorporate into various reports, including our House View; identify new potential resourcesLeverage evidence-based research to critically evaluate investment themes and identify opportunities to improve investment performanceIndependently prepare, present, and report research output results, present and future initiatives, to leadershipContribute to and drive thought leadership with ideation and content creation to differentiate our platform and underpin our investment thesis.Other ad hoc projects and initiatives as needed

Qualifications:

Minimum 12 to 15 years’ experience in research and strategy; preferably with buy-side exposure, providing support for both equity and credit markets, and asset management, including transaction and underwriting support from a market research standpointTrack record of working effectively with Transactions SMEs, Asset Managers, Portfolio Managers and other investment process collaborators to produce relevant research for both internal and external clientsExpertise creatively combining first party and third-party data sources to support the investment decision-making process, and translate research findings into investment thesis and strategyAbility to quickly respond to ad hoc requests and proactively manage programmatic, regular workflow; meet tight deadlines and propose new ideas and solutions for work outputMulti-disciplinary experience across commercial real estate asset types and markets; with an experience in and emphasis on alternatives (self storage, single-family rental (“SFR”), data centers, etc.) and identifying potential new areas of commercial real estate investmentAbility to independently craft and develop strategic research reports, memos, market intelligence and thought leadershipFamiliarity with standard economics and real estate research and data platforms (e.g., CoStar, Oxford Economics, MSCI, Preqin)Experience articulating and defending research output to senior management and industry collaborators: the role may require external representationBachelor’s degree from a 4-year institution (key areas of focus: economics, urban planning, real estate); post-graduate degree in relevant subject areas highly desirableAbility and willingness to travel to help support a global team

About Manulife and John Hancock

Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider, helping people make their decisions easier and lives better. To learn more about us, visit https://www.manulife.com/en/about/our-story.html.

Manulife is an Equal Opportunity Employer

At Manulife/John Hancock, we embrace our diversity. We strive to attract, develop and retain a workforce that is as diverse as the customers we serve and to foster an inclusive work environment that embraces the strength of cultures and individuals. We are committed to fair recruitment, retention, advancement and compensation, and we administer all of our practices and programs without discrimination on the basis of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, religion or religious beliefs, creed, sex (including pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions), sexual orientation, genetic characteristics, veteran status, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, family status, disability, or any other ground protected by applicable law.

It is our priority to remove barriers to provide equal access to employment. A Human Resources representative will work with applicants who request a reasonable accommodation during the application process. All information shared during the accommodation request process will be stored and used in a manner that is consistent with applicable laws and Manulife/John Hancock policies. To request a reasonable accommodation in the application process, contact recruitment@manulife.com.

Primary Location

Toronto, Ontario

Working Arrangement

Hybrid

Salary range is expected to be between

$126,000.00 CAD - $201,000.00 CAD

If you are applying for this role outside of the primary location, please contact recruitment@manulife.com for the salary range for your location. The actual salary will vary depending on local market conditions, geography and relevant job-related factors such as knowledge, skills, qualifications, experience, and education/training. Employees also have the opportunity to participate in incentive programs and earn incentive compensation tied to business and individual performance.

Manulife offers eligible employees a wide array of customizable benefits, including health, dental, mental health, vision, short- and long-term disability, life and AD&D insurance coverage, adoption/surrogacy and wellness benefits, and employee/family assistance plans. We also offer eligible employees various retirement savings plans (including pension and a global share ownership plan with employer matching contributions) and financial education and counseling resources. Our generous paid time off program in Canada includes holidays, vacation, personal, and sick days, and we offer the full range of statutory leaves of absence. If you are applying for this role in the U.S., please contact recruitment@manulife.com for more information about U.S.-specific paid time off provisions.