James Seppala is the Chairman of Blackstone Europe and the Head of Real Estate Europe.

Based in London, he joined Blackstone in 2011.

Prior to Blackstone, Mr. Seppala was a Vice President at Goldman Sachs & Co, where he

spent 10 years focused on equity and debt investment opportunities in Europe and the

United States on behalf of Goldman Sachs’s real estate private equity group.

Mr. Seppala graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 2001. Mr. Seppala

currently serves as Chairman of BEPIF. He also serves on the Imperial College Council, the

Imperial College Endowment Board, the advisory board of the Academy of Real Assets, is a

governor of the John Lyon's Foundation, and serves on the European Advisory Board of the

Zell/Lurie Real Estate Center at the Wharton School.

Martin is responsible for the strategic direction and growth of the business which has AUM of c.$50bn across 26 countries in Europe, Asia and North America. He has more than 20 years’ experience in real estate investment management, including 15 years at M&G in various fund and business management positions. Prior to joining M&G Martin worked for Close Brothers investment bank, responsible for establishing and managing a series of property funds in the UK and Europe. Martin started his career at Jones Lang LaSalle/LaSalle Investment Management. Martin has a BLE (Hons) in Land Economy from the University of Aberdeen and is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

Jess has more than 20 years’ experience in real estate and housing, gained in banking, private equity and law firms.

Jess joined Lloyds Bank in August 2024 as Managing Director, Head of Real Estate & Housing. The team is fundamental to Lloyds’s purpose of Helping Britain Prosper and covers a broad range of clients and segments, from leading housebuilders, hotels and many of the UK’s social housing associations through to regional property developers and listed real estate multinationals and investors.

Prior to Lloyds Jess spent 10 years with Barclays in a range of real estate leadership roles and latterly as Head of Public Sector. Before Barclays Jess worked at Blackstone, RBS and Allen and Overy.

Outside of work Jess is mum to two boys 13 and 10 so her life outside work is spent hanging out with them and doing as much exercise as she can squeeze in.

John is Global Co-Head Real Estate and sits on the AXA IM Alts Management Board and Global Investment Committee. AXA IM Alts is a global leader in alternative investments, with €188bn in assets under management across Real Estate, Infrastructure, Alternative Credit, Private Debt, Private Equity and Hedge Funds. AXA IM Alts employs more than 990 professionals located in 17 offices, serving the needs of more than 600 clients globally.

AXA IM Alts has an established position in real estate equity (#1 real estate investment manager in Europe, #10 worldwide)[1] and debt (#1 CRE debt capital raiser globally)[2].

As Global Co-Head of Real Estate he oversees the sourcing, selection and execution of transactions undertaken each year on behalf of clients. As part of his role, John chairs the Strategic Investment Committee, a key forum for setting investment strategy and sectorial convictions. John is also a member of the Management Board of AXA IM Alts.

John joined AXA IM - Real Assets in 2018, from global real estate advisory services firm JLL, where he was CEO of Corporate Finance and Head of Mergers & Acquisitions for the EMEA region since 2014. Prior to JLL, John spent eight years at Deutsche Bank where, having joined as an Associate in 2006, he was promoted through to EMEA Head of Real Estate, Gaming and Lodging M&A. John joined Deutsche after four years in the EMEA Real Estate Investment Banking team at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

John has over 22 years of experience in the international real estate investment banking and advisory industry.

As CEO, Stafford is focussed on Delancey’s overall fund and asset level strategies and is responsible for overall management of the Firm. He joined Delancey in 2000 having previously been a Partner at Cushman & Wakefield.

He has led a range of Delancey's commercial, residential, mixed use and alternative sector investments in equity and credit strategies. He has also held leadership positions across Delancey's operating platforms including our pioneering moves into residential build to rent (Get Living plc), education (Alpha Plus Group) and mixed used development (Earls Court Development Company).

Alongside client funds, he manages Delancey's relationships with major co-investment partners including APG, Oxford Properties and Aware Super. He sits on the Board of our Delancey Aware Real Estate UK initiative (DARE).

Outside Delancey, Stafford contributes to wider industry initiatives in education, research and access - he is past Chair of the Investment Property Forum (IPF) and a Trustee of the Reading Real Estate Foundation at Henley Business School.

Based in London, Richard has over 30 years' experience as a real estate lawyer and is experienced in all aspects of property development, investment and financing. He heads the development practice within the London real estate group and has developed close relationships with many of the firm's key clients. He is recognised as a leading individual in the Legal 500 and Chambers directories.

Richard advises major institutions from all around the world, including new market entrants. He advises on major multi phased development projects in the UK and internationally, as well as the larger investment deals and joint ventures.