At this writing the tally is now five. That’s the number of C-Suite executives who have jumped ship for what they perceive to be greener pastures. Marc Jaccom going to Cresa was only the latest, and arguably Arthur Mirante switching from long-time home C&W for Avison Young the biggest, at least so far.
No doubt the trend will continue and all I can do is write this quick enough before the next star unveils the results of his search. As Ron Uretta, managing member of High Road Advisors and the former president and chief operating officer of Insignia/ESG told Jacqueline Hlavenka recently, it’s all about service platforms. "The industry is demanding a higher level of talent, a higher degree of professionalism and a higher understanding of the real estate markets,” he said.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt the receiving firm to have the power punch of a Tom D’Arcy or a Jim Leslie on board. As Mirante told me during my interview with him at the recent RealShare New Jersey Opportunities Breakfast, the moves—C-Suite or not, are being driven by two factors, one macro and one micro: the economy and the culture of the firm.
In lousy times (and don’t be fooled, we’re still there and the near term doesn’t look much rosier) a broker’s first reaction to a spate of flat numbers is to dust off the resume. (Of course, with 40 years and countless cycles under his belt that probably wouldn’t apply to Mirante himself.) Mirante also indicted the culture of firms that lose what he called the human touch of training and mentoring in favor of “quarterly earnings and capital events.” In that light it’s interesting to note that most of the recent shifts were to smaller firms.
It should be noted here that of nearly 200 respondents to our recent poll on the subject, 47% predicted we’d see more. It’s a sign of the times, like M&As in the go-go early 2000s. What makes it all so juicy is the level of professional making the shifts. That’s what will keep us tuning in.
So here’s the $64-million question: Is Mirante right? And if so, how green are the pastures at your firm?
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John Salustri
John Salustri has covered the commercial real estate industry for nearly 25 years. He was the founding editor of GlobeSt.com, and is a four-time recipient of the Excellence in Journalism award from the National Association of Real Estate Editors.
