_Your partners in property - Sarah Harding and Kymbal Dunne

What does your role entail?

SH: I have held a variety of roles at Knight Frank over the past 15 years and this has enabled me to get a huge amount of experience working closely with Partners around the globe. Working with Kymbal, our focus is building relationships with our valued clients and private investors, offering them strategic advice on their portfolios, opportunities and problem solving. We offer a consistent but bespoke approach with each client and are the central touch point to ensure we can look after their needs over multiple services across Australia and when needed, across the world. I am also responsible for leading our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative here in Australia.

KD: An understanding of building long term relationships and networks is critical to our success. 

Image: Kymbal Dunne and Sarah Harding from Knight Frank Australia Private Office 

How has COVID-19 impacted your working life?

SH: I’ve had experience in working remotely, across time zones, and whilst travelling extensively throughout Asia Pacific. This experience helped me instil a discipline in order to be able conduct business over video conference and the importance of keeping in touch when you can’t have the ‘water cooler chat’ or indeed bump into a client whilst walking through the city. Working from home has enabled us to focus on many projects that had been put on the back burner, and time spent with colleagues on a teams call or a walking meeting is precious so the importance of prioritising has been critical.

KD: For 41 years my career has been structured, even to the point of wearing a suit and tie each day. The adjustment has felt like an experiment although I’m beginning to realise that this way of life will continue for several years so this is the new norm. There’s no going back as we are moving forward in search of the optimal way to work and live. The pandemic will curtail my international travel and I will need to look at new ways to connect with our overseas clients and maintain the important networks we have with our global business. Now is the time to pivot and maintain momentum and not the time to be idle.

What is the current market sentiment?

SH: The sentiment is very much on how we can support our clients through the recovery phase whilst being sensitive to how the pandemic is having an affect on others both locally and globally.

KD: Australia is an amazing country and once again, how lucky we are to live in such a wonderful, multicultural and safe place; the stability of our political system which has put party politics aside and been willing to relinquish control to our best medical minds; and how responsible Australians have taken their own and others' welfare into consideration. Financially, there is an acceptance that we are all going to share the burden of Government support and that this is responsible to avoid a catastrophe. In terms of investment, the dial has shifted from wealth creation to wealth preservation as the market goes into a world recession.

What is happening with your existing clients? What business are you doing today?

SH: Many of our clients (and their clients, staff and tenants), have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in one way or another. Any decisions they make have a multitude of implications and we are offering advice to help them through the short, medium and long term, whilst ensuring empathy along the way. Our clients also want to know what is happening globally. Both Kymbal and I are in touch with colleagues around the world on a daily basis and this helps us give up to date and accurate insights to our clients.

KD: Our clients are wealthy and sophisticated people. This means that they are taking stock of the damage to their property portfolios. Even the smartest people are affected in one way or another through exposure to the property industry or business. There is a strong capital preservation focus followed by an examination of the returns - safety is paramount. No one wants a return if the asset value is likely to collapse, nor do they want a return if it is not secure. This is a period where certainty or at least a low level of manageable risk is preferred by all investors. In the asset management services, professional services (including valuations) and project management and building consultancy areas, our services are in high demand.

I’ve been through four bad downturns so I know what they look like and how people behave. Many people will struggle with this, by not understanding that we are in a recession. They will focus on the pandemic which is even harder to explain. If we appreciate that some businesses will collapse, some clients will debate closing their buildings because they feel it makes no sense to rent, which means we will be left with people who need to do business. Today, we are already working with them and collecting data for the others. Education will become increasingly important and there will be loads of information and research, but if you can’t convert it to knowledge then you can’t harness its power. We’ll help our clients come to grips with new market conditions. 

What do you think the remainder of the year will be like?

SH: The focus will be on conducting business safely and ensuring we make the most of opportunities so that the economy can recover, businesses can survive, and people can keep their jobs. At the Private Office, Kymbal and I are fortunate enough that our focus is on relationships, rather than transactions and as such the strength of these relationships are sometimes as intimate as a family. Supporting these relationships will remain our focus.

KD: I anticipate that it will be very tough. Australia will be hit with a series of bad news. It will come in waves - first it will be poor business results, followed by high unemployment or unusually high underemployment and then some businesses will close. This recession will take some time to work through but we know from experience that human beings do not like depressed conditions for long, so we will all become part of an uplifting rally to change the negativity and encourage investment and spending. That’s okay for us as we are managers of real estate and know how to work through problems to find solutions.

Where might there be opportunities?

SH: During lockdown and now into the recovery we have assisted our clients in all elements of real estate, from a sale of a house in Millers Point, to the disposal of an asset in Adelaide to help raise money for the business in Europe, to strategic advice on leasing and acquisitions both in Australia and the US.

KD: Fundamentally, our clients crave advice and right now more than ever. There will be opportunities everywhere but only for those buyers with access to funds. There will be many reasons why property assets will be sold and space leased. Business will change and so too will long term plans. This will be a period of great reflection and where people may find a new purpose. Properties will be sold, leased, valued, improved and managed and we can do the lot in so many locations around the globe. Delivering outcomes will be priceless. 

Given your lockdown experience, what insight have you taken from it?

SH: Never underestimate the power of relationships, friendships and keeping in touch. This really does support being a partner in property for our clients and colleagues. The ability to pick up the phone, FaceTime or host a video conference with a colleague from 10 years ago or someone genuinely in need of our advice shows the need for strong relationships and the importance of partnership.

KD: Working from home no longer has the stigma it did. You can achieve real focus at home and get tasks done, which remove daily stress. Working from my workplace reminds me of the importance of culture, collaboration and a sense of belonging. These are two distinctly different environments and both now have a serious place in our working lives.

What are your final thoughts?

SH: Working through lockdown and the pandemic has thrown a curve ball to everyone, however I can see many positives as a result of dealing with this. Aside from the strength of relationships, the ‘new norm’ of working from home has added the ability to work flexibly and for me personally, has driven my creative side and personality. Working collaboratively doesn’t happen just because we sit in a ‘Collaboration Hub’. Through working with Kymbal and some of our clients, we have had some of our best meetings walking at sunrise or a bushwalk in the rain. I hope these new approved ways of working continue.

KD: Sarah and I speak to each other at least twice a day and hold each other accountable. We’ve had a stellar three months working like this. I do miss my colleagues, the energy from them and their ideas but I’m very engaged with our networks through video conferencing. I think all that has happened is that we have broadened our connections and built on them. I do miss my morning coffee and the happy people who make my sandwiches. For the industry, this will be a period of great change. Technology must take over those monotonous processes allowing agents to really add value to their clients in the same place they always have – through relationships and market knowledge. This isn’t a hard business but it requires discipline, hard work and planning.