GlobeSt.com: What is the relationship between risk and technology?

Fisher: In order to properly compensate for risk the investor must first quantify it. Transparency of the real estate investment is a tremendous aid in this task. Transparency is the measure of the availability of accurate data to assess the fundamentals of the market. With accurate data the investor is able to determine supply and demand indicating the feasibility of the investment. The more in depth information available such as demographics from data sources, the more the transparency is enhanced.

GlobeSt.com: Can you explain how potential investors can use technology to reduce risk?

Fisher: One of the major information areas necessary to make effective real estate decisions is the area of market fundamentals. Accurate and accessible information is necessary to determine the feasibility of any real estate investment. As an example, the population of the market is a very important part of this necessary information. Coupled with the population, the income of the market is extremely important. Using this information and good decision making models the investor can determine the feasibility of retail investment. This population information is, of course, dynamic so it is important to be able to easily access current data. As the population and income change, the retail demand changes. If the total supply and demand are near a state of equilibrium, the fundamentals of the market are strong, with low vacancy and rising rents. In a similar manner investors can determine the feasibility of office and industrial investments. If the number of office workers is accurately determined, then the total need for office space can be projected for a specific market. This then can be compared to the supply of space.

GlobeSt.com: Can technology make it easier for global investors to communicate by creating standards and uniform financial measurements?

Fisher: Yes. Take, for instance, cash flow modeling. Creating a common methodology with investment measures enhances the ability of the investor to make sound decisions. While it may be extremely difficult to completely standardize the cash flow model, an executive summary to a global standard would be very useful. This would allow valuation work done in different countries to be easily compared. Many software packages are produced in multiple languages today, which could easily facilitate the attachment of a global standard executive summary.