Jim Clayton was appointed Professor and Timothy R. Price Chair in Real Estate and Infrastructure at the newly established Brookfield Centre in the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto in January 2018. He is tasked with helping to lead and establish the Brookfield Centre as a global centre of excellence in teaching, research and engagement with industry and government. The Centre’s activities include Schulich’s 12-month Master of Real Estate and Infrastructure (MREI) program — the first of its kind in Canada and one of only a few in the world – one that builds on the School’s long-existing MBA specialization in real estate and infrastructure. Professor Clayton returned to academia and Canada from global investment manager Barings (formerly Cornerstone), where he was Head of Real Estate Investment Strategy and Analytics. He was responsible for monitoring and forecasting real estate investment and capital market trends, advising on fund and client investment and portfolio strategy, and delivering applied research and strategic thought pieces. He also sat on the equity and debt investment committees and the valuation committee. While at Barings Jim was an Adjunct Professor in the Real Estate Program in the School of Business at the University of Connecticut.
Prior to joining Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, that later became part of Barings, in 2008, he was Director of Research at the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA), and prior to that had faculty positions at the University of Cincinnati and Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He currently teaches in executive education programs for NAIOP and the Real Property Association of Canada (REALpac). Jim Clayton is a co-editor of the bi-annual special issue of The Journal of Portfolio Management devoted to real estate, a Fellow, and former President, of the Real Estate Research Institute (RERI), a Fellow of the Weimer School of Advanced Studies in Real Estate and Land Economics, and a past recipient of a Homer-Hoyt Institute post-doctoral fellowship. He is a member of the PREA Research Committee and a previous co-chair of the PREA Research Affinity Group.
Honours
- 2015 President of the Real Estate Research Institute (RERI)
- 2014 Co-chair of the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) Research Affinity Group
- 2014 (2010, 2012, 2013) MBA Teacher of the Year Award, Real Estate, University of Connecticut
- 2012 Invited to present to the Board of Directors of the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB)
- 2011 Named a Fellow of the Real Estate Research Institute (RERI)
- 2009 Award for best paper published in the Journal of Real Estate Portfolio Management
- 2008 Fellow of the Weimer School of Advanced Studies in Real Estate and Land Economics
- 2007 Counselors of Real Estate William S. Ballard Award for best feature article in Real Estate Issues
- 2007 Outstanding editorial board member award, Real Estate Economics journal
- 2005 Journal of Property Research best paper award, European Real Estate Society (ERES)
