Altus Group announces winners of the 2024 ARGUS University Challenge

April 23, 2024

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Altus Group Limited (ʺAltus Group” or “the Company”) (TSX: AIF), a leading provider of asset and fund intelligence for commercial real estate (“CRE”), is pleased to announce the 2024 winners of its 15th annual ARGUS University Challenge.

Teams of aspiring real estate professionals from leading universities across the world competed for scholarship awards by identifying the top commercial real estate investment opportunities. Leveraging the powerful analytics of ARGUS Enterprise (“AE”), they presented their investment case based on a hypothetical real estate opportunity.

With over 85 students from 20 universities competing, the 2024 ARGUS University Challenge winners were:

1st place: University of San Diego

Team: Kevin Dixon, Dillard Harvey, Hunter Loncar, Grant Neeley, Sandis Seale
Professor: Charles Tu

2nd place: International Real Estate Business School (IREBS) - University of Regensburg

Team: Lars Baur, Michele Cirillo, Clara-Maria Hamberger, Antonia Radmacher, Konstantin Muratov
Professor: Wolfgang Schaefers

3rd place: Cornell University

Team: Chloe Xiang, Rohit Vilas Kharche, Kai Yang, Abdullah Syarifuddin
Professor: Daniel Lebret and Chris de Mestre

4th place: Baruch College

Team: Aditya Agarwal, Sixi Chen, Shubham Jadhao
Professor: Zoey Tang

“This year’s ARGUS University Challenge participants demonstrated an impressive proficiency in utilizing market data in their scenario analysis,” said Ernest Clark, Chief Marketing Officer at Altus Group. “This emerging generation of talent possesses remarkable potential, highlighting the CRE industry’s strides in enhancing the skill sets of future professionals amid unprecedented industry transformation. As a company committed to fostering talent and innovation, we are proud to offer the ARGUS University Challenge and look forward to seeing how these students shape the future of our industry."

The teams were evaluated on their ability to leverage ARGUS Enterprise to present a summary investment recommendation based on a hypothetical case study. The AE valuation model is based on a discounted cash flow (“DCF”) methodology and includes factual and assumptive inputs. Its capabilities range from property and portfolio valuation analysis to financial modelling, scenario analysis, and reporting. With over 30 years of industry presence, AE’s valuation methodology is deeply integrated in the industry and is taught in over 200 academic institutions worldwide.

Each team prepared a report encompassing a comprehensive analysis of the property's performance for the next ten years, considering building, pre-letting, financing, development, and market data, along with personal assumptions. The winners were selected by a judging panel consisting of leading industry experts including: Christopher Bourn, Bayes Business School; Gary Brown, Partners Real Estate; Mike Goode, CRE Consultant; and Ray Wong, Altus Group.

For more information on the ARGUS University Challenge, please click here.

Key contact

Elizabeth Lambe

Director, Global Communications

Key contact

Elizabeth Lambe

Director, Global Communications

About Altus Group

Altus Group is a leading provider of asset and fund intelligence for commercial real estate. We deliver intelligence as a service to our global client base through a connected platform of industry-leading technology, advanced analytics, and advisory services.

Trusted by the largest CRE leaders, our capabilities help commercial real estate investors, developers, proprietors, lenders, and advisors manage risks and improve performance returns throughout the asset and fund lifecycle.

Altus Group is a global company headquartered in Toronto with approximately 2,900 employees across North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific. For more information about Altus (TSX: AIF) please visit altusgroup.com.