Real estate secondaries, once a niche within a niche asset class, have officially moved into the spotlight. Over the past decade, real estate secondaries have transformed from a niche liquidity solution into a sophisticated strategy in their own right. As the market for secondary trades deepens, driven by LP demand for flexibility and active portfolio management, platforms are shifting from opportunistic dealmakers to institutional operators.
That shift brings a new set of leadership challenges. Success today isn’t just about finding the next trade. It’s about building the right team to support a differentiated strategy, whether you’re scaling aggressively or staying intentionally lean.
Real Estate Secondaries Aren’t Like Anything Else—Here’s Why
Compared to private equity or infrastructure secondaries, real estate poses a distinct challenge. These transactions often involve direct or indirect exposure to physical assets—assets with unique market, regulatory, and operating characteristics.
What does that mean in practice?
-
- Underwriting requires reconciling legacy decisions, disparate property types, and inconsistent data quality.
- Execution often includes post-trade asset management and active business plan execution.
- LP expectations are shifting, demanding institutional reporting, ESG integration, and clearly articulated value strategies.
In short: Real estate secondaries live in the gray space between financial engineering and hands-on operations.
The Talent Mandate Is Evolving
1. Fund Operations + Infrastructure
Even lean secondaries funds must make sense of complex inputs such as multiple vintages, diverse sponsors, and legacy LP agreements. CFOs and COOs with cross-platform exposure in private markets are in high demand. But it’s not just about experience. It’s about the ability to simplify complexity, build systems from scratch, and scale trust with investors.
2. Portfolio + Asset Strategy
These aren’t clean-slate acquisitions. They’re inheritances—often incomplete, occasionally imperfect. Asset managers and portfolio strategists must move fast to assess risk, identify upside, and bring discipline to disparate assets. The best performers? Operators who combine local market knowledge with institutional polish.
3. Capital Formation + Investor Engagement
Real estate secondaries still require explanation. Most allocators are familiar with primary fund investing, but fewer understand the nuances of secondary pricing, manager selection, or how risk is underwritten. Capital raisers must be technically fluent and commercially sharp, with the ability to build confidence in a still-maturing product.
Scale Isn’t the Only Path—But Strategy Still Needs Structure
Not every secondaries platform needs to scale. Some thrive on being highly targeted and nimble. But even those strategies need the right talent—people who can wear multiple hats, interpret complexity, and navigate investor expectations without the cushion of layers.
Whether you’re building to exit, expand, or endure, the difference between traction and friction often comes down to leadership.
About the Author
Sun-Sun de Swaan
Partner
sdeswaan@mbexec.com
Sun-Sun de Swaan serves as a Partner at McDermott + Bull in the New York office where she leads the firm’s real estate practice. Sun-Sun brings over 20 years of real estate experience and works with clients across the sector, including firms involved with investment, development, financing, and property management. She has experience in a variety of functions across the industry, shaping her expertise and ability to deliver best-in-class talent to clients across the board.