The cohort of executive MBA students at the Gabelli School of Business recently advised the China-based lender CreditEase on the best places for Chinese investment in real estate. The consulting project was part of the EMBA program’s capstone course. The cohort of students gave a presentation to the company on August 19, at the firm’s headquarters in Beijing. For the project, students were asked to identify which U.S. cities offer Chinese investors the best potential return on investment in residential real estate.
The 22 student cohort conducted extensive market research to find the best answer for their client. The result of the research was the recommendation of five US locations; New York City (Queens and the Bronx), Philadelphia, Seattle, Houston and San Francisco. One student in the cohort, Colin Cassidy, explained in a press release for Gabelli that the areas chosen were based on specific criteria for their research, such as how quickly the area recovered from the 2007-2008 financial crisis, the local economy’s strength, unemployment rates, real estate taxes and rent-to-buy ratios.
“The clients asked a lot of questions about all of the cities and seemed most intrigued by the potential of Philadelphia, which made a lot of sense given their budget,” Cassidy said. “They told us it was a job well done and that they’d like to continue working with us.” In addition to the presentation, the group also visited the Great Wall, the Summer Palace and Peking University, and other sites during the week-long trip, as part of the international capstone portion of the EMBA program.
The students in the Executive MBA cohort collaborate to choose the country they’ll focus on, and the business problem their consulting work will solve. Each year the client and country of focus changes, giving each group of EMBA students a unique experience.
For more information the Gabelli School of Business Executive MBA program and other top-ranked EMBA programs in the New York metro area, visit metromba.com.