J.P. Morgan to Sponsor the 2011 J.P. Morgan UT National Real Estate Challenge

NEW YORK, Nov. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- J.P. Morgan (NYSE: JPM) is pleased to announce its sponsorship of the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business 2011 National Real Estate Challenge on November 9-10, 2011, a prominent graduate-level real estate competition that promotes excellence in real estate investment analysis.

Hosted by the UT McCombs School's Real Estate Finance and Investment Center, the J.P. Morgan UT National Real Estate Challenge allows graduate student teams from top schools to compete for highest honors and cash awards in a real estate case competition. The Challenge calls for each team to make a case presentation to a judging panel of a who's who of the real estate industry's top professionals. This year's participating schools confirmed are Berkeley, Chicago, Columbia, Cornell, Darden/UVA, Duke, Kellogg, Michigan, MIT, NYU, Texas-McCombs, UCLA, UNC-Chapel Hill, USC, Vanderbilt, Wharton and Yale.

"We are thrilled to collaborate with University of Texas to support this prestigious competition," said Kevin Faxon, Head of Real Estate Americas, J.P. Morgan Asset Management-Global Real Assets.  "We are challenging student teams to draw on a myriad of skills to assess real estate investment opportunities. Developing these skills is instrumental in growing the next generation of real estate industry leaders."

Joseph Cahoon, Managing Director of the Real Estate Finance and Investment Center at McCombs School of Business, added, "We're bringing together one of the preeminent real estate investment and services firm, J.P. Morgan, with the premier student real estate competition.  J.P. Morgan's involvement and commitment will carry forward the Real Estate Challenge and impart on the participating students critical real-life investment skills."  

To compete in the Challenge, student teams will evaluate a J.P. Morgan-created investment opportunity on behalf of a real estate investment fund, focusing on a range of possible issues surrounding the acquisition, underwriting, financing and tenanting of the property. Representatives of J.P. Morgan Asset Management – Global Real Assets will present a retrospective on the actual investment and its performance following the completion of the competition. Judges for the competition are drawn from top real estate investment managers, pension funds, endowments & foundations, corporate defined benefit plans and other prominent institutional investors.

About J.P. Morgan

JPMorgan Chase & Co. offers a comprehensive range of real estate capabilities and services to real estate investors, owners, developers through its asset management, commercial banking and investment banking operations.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management – Global Real Assets has approximately $47.8 billion of real estate assets under management across the U.S., Europe and Asia. With a 40-plus-year history of successful investing, J.P. Morgan Asset Management – Global Real Assets' real estate offerings span core, value-added and opportunistic risk/return profiles, debt and equity, and public and private strategies.

Chase Commercial Real Estate Banking, with a portfolio exceeding $10 billion, delivers commercial real estate and banking products to nearly 500 top-tier real estate developers, investors, real estate operating companies, investment funds, and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs).  Chase Commercial Real Estate Banking has expertise in real estate credit, including commercial construction, acquisitions, structured revolving facilities, bridge lending and long-term mortgage lending.

J.P. Morgan Real Estate & Lodging Investment Banking, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mumbai and Sydney, provides advisory and capital market solutions to the world's most significant real estate, gaming, lodging and homebuilding companies as well as select private real estate owners, developers and investors. 

About The Real Estate Finance and Investment Center at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas

The Real Estate Finance and Investment Center at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin offers students a comprehensive program that combines the disciplines of finance, real estate, economics, and community planning. Real estate companies have a growing necessity for well-trained managers in areas such as financial analysis, project evaluation, as well as equity and debt securitization. The Center's goal is to meet that need at both the graduate and undergraduate levels and our students graduate to fast-track positions in those areas.

As the center's advising entity, a council of leading real estate professionals provide guidance and financial support to the program. Council members assist the center and Department by advising faculty on program strategy and curriculum, speaking in classes, providing career advice and employment opportunities to students, and supplying background and case material on important contemporary issues in real estate finance and development.  Council members consist of a broad cross section of real estate executives and professionals, representing the key functions within the real estate industry and the major markets.

The Center's main events are two semi-annual conferences, where the Fall meeting is held in conjunction with the National Real Estate Challenge -- the preeminent graduate real estate student case competition.  Other Center activities include an Alternative Investment Conference, student-managed REIT Fund and Practicum courses, a mentor program, regular participation in the University's curriculum, career-based events, and sponsored academic research.

SOURCE J.P. Morgan