Tim Green speaks to Sandy Gumm, Chief Operating Officer of Prestbury Investments LLP
Sandy Gumm is an Australian-qualified chartered accountant. She is chief operating officer of Prestbury Investments LLP, which is investment adviser to Secure Income REIT Plc, as well as a non-executive director of Secure Income REIT Plc. She trained at KPMG in Sydney and worked for nine years for that company in Sydney and London, before becoming group financial controller of Burford Holdings Plc in 1995. Joining Nick Leslau and Nigel Wray to establish Prestbury in 1997, she was appointed finance director when Prestbury Group Plc was listed that year, later becoming chief operating officer in 2007.
Prestbury has also been an investor in, and adviser to, many substantial real estate businesses, including Max Property Group Plc, which was listed in 2009 and sold to funds managed by Blackstone in 2014.
What was your first job and what is the worst job you’ve ever done?
“My first job was a part-time position in a local record store (in the pre-CD era, which might tell you something about how old I am). I don’t think I can point to any terrible jobs, luckily, so I wouldn’t really describe any job as ‘the worst’ I have done, but perhaps the most eye-opening was working as a receptionist. I have never forgotten how routine it is for the receptionist to be treated really poorly, while the person a caller or visitor wants to speak to is treated like royalty.”
Was finance your first career choice and what were you doing before?
“My whole career has been in finance, though for a long time I thought I would either be a lawyer or a journalist. I had to rule out the former because I lacked the money to get through a law degree, and I realised I was probably short of both the talent and the confidence to really make a go of the latter.”
Why did you choose a career in the commercial real estate sector?
“Dealing with real assets rather than anything esoteric or abstract is a big part of the appeal. It is also a sector where the finance role seems to really have something to add. I’m in a transaction-based role, and piecing together bits of complexity between the commercial, legal, tax and accounting elements of a deal really appeals to me – and can genuinely preserve or add value. It’s always felt like an industry where the finance role allows you to score a few runs, not just count them.”
Why do you enjoy the sector?
“Deal structuring can be quite complex, and pulling together the various strands involves working with some of the smartest people in various fields, from inside and outside of the company and across various disciplines. That’s a real pleasure, and the feeling of delivering a deal together with the wider team is incredibly satisfying. We’ve been in business for long enough that we’ve figured out who we want to work with, and that includes having some fun along the way.”
What’s a typical day like?
“I’ll usually be in our office in Central London between 8 and 8.30am – beyond that it’s very difficult to say what will follow. Around reporting season for the public company, the focus will be on working with the finance and property teams to deliver all of the various reports to lenders, regulators, boards and shareholders. The five members of the finance team here are all experienced and really know their stuff, so my role is all about final reviews and checks, knowing that the hard work is basically all done. Outside of the reporting cycle, my workload tends to be very much dependent on deal flow, meaning that life in the office can range from very relaxed to very full on.”
Who or what has had the biggest impact on your career?
“Without question that would be Nick Leslau. Had he not offered me the opportunity to join him and Nigel to set up Prestbury in 1997, I’m not sure where my career would have gone, and I’m happy not to have had to find out.”
What advice would you give to people at different levels on developing their careers?
“What I’d always suggest is that any individual finds someone to mentor them, either from within or outside their organisation. It can take a bit of bravery to approach someone to ask for help, but remember that the worst thing that can happen is that the person you have asked says no. It’s worth the risk. We all need to be open to coaching at various stages in our careers, and that doesn’t stop at board level.”
Who inspires you and why?
“I’ve been very lucky to work with a lot of people who inspire me – and if I start to name some, I’ll offend others! It is true that we see someone’s true colours when they’re under pressure, and those who can keep both their heads and their sense of humour when the pressure is on are the ones I aspire to be like.”
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
“I think I could say I’ve got a decent amount of stamina and commitment, and that’s served me fairly well on a number of occasions. I think I can manage a moderate amount of multi-tasking but that’s not always a plus – there’s a point where it becomes counter-productive. I might also fall back on a national stereotype and say that, while I consider my Australian directness a positive thing, others might not agree.”
What do you think are the common qualities that the best leaders have?
“I’d say that leadership is the ability to listen to diverse views, distil them and take a clear decision while still taking everyone along with you, even those you don’t agree with. It’s a pretty rare skill, but that’s what I have seen in the best leaders.”
What are you most proud of?
“That we have continued to reinvent Prestbury over more than 21 years, responding to varied market conditions and getting through the 2008–09 crash with a strong business and with our sanity intact. Building our team here gives me every bit as much pride as building the net asset value.”
Why do you feel championing inclusion and diversity is so important?
“It’s simply respectful of others, while being the most sensible business decision: why on earth would you ignore the widest possible pool of talent?”
Where do you see the real estate sector in ten years’ time?
“I can see real estate continuing to thrive over the medium term, but I can’t see it becoming much less cyclical, so who knows what point in the cycle we will be in once we get to 2029. We’re all facing challenges on many fronts, including structural shifts in the way we shop, live and work as a result of the impact of factors including an ageing population, technology and economic conditions. The way that co-working and the solutions to the housing shortage in the UK play out will both be fascinating to see. In many subsectors it seems to me that the winners will include those who are able to embrace technology to good effect, which will mean many of us learning new skills later in our careers than we might have anticipated.
“Perhaps one way to answer this question is to point to where our team here is heavily invested, corporately and personally. Our REIT solely focusses on very long leases underpinned by strong tenants in defensive sectors where our assets are ‘business critical’ – the sort of investments that tend to ride out market turbulence while delivering attractive and predictable returns. Whatever the challenges over the next ten years, we feel that we have structured a stable platform which should be sheltered from many of these challenges.”
What are key challenges for business directors/partners in 2019?
“We are all negotiating massive uncertainty in UK and global politics, together with the sort of structural challenges I referred to in the context of the outlook for the next ten years. Then there’s the impact of potentially being at the end of a very long cycle; the way that QE will unwind; and the impact of shifts in equity capital markets towards lower-cost and more passive investments. These may well throw out challenges too. Tempting as it is to stick one’s fingers in one’s ears and ignore it all, it’s our job to assess the risks and respond to these conditions, however complex and difficult it gets.”
Finally, what do you do to relax?
“I guess my two ways of de-stressing are pretty complementary: training in the gym and baking. You can’t underestimate the stress-busting powers of either.”
