In this edition of The Company We Keep, we speak with Kerr Bray, Chief Operating Officer at Corval about navigating complexity across leadership, risk management and capital allocation, and how a risk-first mindset continues to shape Corval’s approach across property cycles.
Meet Kerr Bray
Kerr Bray is the Chief Operating Officer at Corval, where he oversees the establishment, investment and ongoing management of the firm’s institutional funds and mandates. Kerr’s role spans strategy, capital raisings, acquisitions, asset and portfolio management, and investor engagement.
With more than 30 years’ experience across financial services, property and funds management, Kerr has managed both listed and unlisted funds in Australia and Europe. Prior to Corval, he held senior roles at ING Real Estate as Fund Manager for a listed retail property trust and for Tishman Speyer in Europe in a number of senior roles including managing the group’s pan-European core office funds with total assets in excess of $4 billion.
Corval is a specialist property investor that creates value and generates superior returns for its investors through a disciplined, risk-first approach to real estate investment. The firm has a long-standing track record of stable performance, underpinned by conservative underwriting, disciplined risk assessment across market cycles. Corval invests across industrial, office, hotels, agricultural assets and land-lease communities, applying a disciplined, risk-first investment approach across each sector.
Q&A with Kerr Bray
Q1) What aspects of your leadership approach have you had to evolve most over the past year, and how are you shaping your team culture to navigate an increasingly complex regulatory and capital environment?
Our leadership style is focused on providing the team with as much autonomy as possible and becoming involved only when our input is sought. We have a flat organisation structure and an open-plan office, which makes for very organic, real-time interactions.
Whilst our leadership approach has not changed much over the years, the past two to three years have presented more challenging real estate market conditions, increasing risk across the portfolio. We have therefore become more involved with the team to support them in addressing these challenges, which have been well managed to achieve the best possible outcomes for our investors.
I think that the team has enjoyed our increased involvement (although we probably need to get them to verify that!) so I have tried to stay a bit more involved but more through seeking regular updates rather than inserting myself into processes the team is well placed to manage.
Q2) How is Corval adapting its investment or development strategy in response to Australia’s evolving affordability pressures, planning reforms and climate-related risks heading into 2026?
While Corval is not directly involved in residential real estate, affordability pressures and an ageing population led to the establishment of the MHE Fund in 2019. In joint venture with our operating partner, Vivacity, the fund develops and owns land-lease communities for over 55s.
These estates provide retirees with affordable, high-quality housing, resort-style leisure facilities and the benefits of independent living with like-minded people in a secure environment. The fund has recently been restructured to enable investment from major Australian institutions, supporting the development of over 5,000 new homes across the country.
Climate risk has always been a focus when making new investments and managing our existing portfolio of properties. In 2024, we completed a comprehensive climate risk assessment to better understand portfolio-wide exposure and identify the assets which are most exposed. These insights guide targeted capital expenditure programs to mitigate identified risks. Climate risk screening is also carried out as a standard due diligence process for all new acquisitions, to ensure that future physical climate risk is understood before making new investments.
“In joint venture with operating partner, Vivacity, the MHE Fund has been restructured to enable investment from major Australian institutions, supporting the development of over 5,000 new homes across the country.”
Q3) Where do you see the biggest opportunities for technology in the property sector – whether in data, construction or asset management – to materially shift performance or efficiency in 2026?
Our focus is on incremental improvements, particularly at the property and asset management level.
Examples include AI-optimised energy and plant controls to reduce energy use and costs, predictive maintenance platforms to anticipate and fix plant before failures or tenants complaints, and smart technology analytics to better fit out office space to meet user’s actual needs.
Advances in construction methodology, including modular construction and 3D printing do present the opportunity for significant costs saving in the medium term. This is a particular focus for Vivacity, our operating partner for the MHE Fund, as it seeks to deliver more affordable housing within the land-lease communities that we are developing.
Q4) What keeps you passionate about the discipline and its challenges?
Corval has long focused on improving the ESG credentials of its assets, though historically without the formal reporting structures of larger listed groups. Over the past two years, and in response to increased disclosure expectations, we have worked with ESG consultants to establish a clearer ESG framework and a net-zero strategy across the portfolio.
Corval initially engaged Northrop to establish an ESG framework and complete a portfolio-wide climate risk assessment, before partnering with CBRE’s ESG team to refine policies, guide implementation and map out a realistic path to net zero aiming for Scope 1 and 2 by 2035 and Scope 3 by 2050.
In 2025, a key focus was improving how emissions data is collected, managed and reported in a centralised way. This is being delivered through the DeepKi data platform which enables us to identify underperforming assets and prioritise efficiency upgrades, low-carbon technologies and renewable energy projects. Net zero pathway reports have now been completed across most assets, providing clarity on required actions, priorities and timelines.
While Corval does not currently fall within the mandatory disclosure framework, we are aware of the requirements we may face in future, and the steps we are taking will place us in a position to adapt quickly. Overall, we’re taking a practical approach to the transition, making sure the company is well prepared for net-zero expectations and future reporting requirements.
Q5) What are the most important macroeconomic signals you’re watching in 2026 – interest rates, migration, supply pipelines, other? And how are they shaping your capital allocation decisions?
Interest rates and bond yields are key indicators given their strong correlation with property yields and values. We are closely watching the impact of the recent shift in sentiment, with the exception now that the next move in rates will be up. This change has not yet fully flowed through to values, and it will be interesting to observe its impact on transaction activity for commercial real estate as the market adjusts through 2026.
Construction costs have increased by approximately 40% since COVID, making it more challenging for new developments to stack up, particularly in the office sector. This is constraining new supply, which may support rental growth over the medium term. At the same time, office utilisation remains below pre-COVID levels due to greater acceptance of working from home, a trend that may be further influenced by AI-driven impact on white-collar employment.
We continue to allocate capital across industrial, living and agricultural sectors, and more recently have started to invest again in the office sector.
- Industrial: We have established funds that target industrial property, particularly smaller assets in infill locations that offer opportunities to add value. This sector of the market continues to benefit from onshoring since Covid, which has driven demand, combined with limited new supply and high replacement costs.
- Land-lease sector: Our MHE Fund is leaning into the “living” thematics of an ageing population and a lack of affordable housing, by developing quality land-lease communities for retirees.
- Agricultural sector: We have amassed a significant portfolio in the agricultural sector, including high-tech glasshouse developments, which is supported by population growth and the importance of food security.
- Office sector: Whilst we built the business investing in the office sector, we have acquired very few office assets over the past few years, being a period where office values have fallen by 20-40%. We now believe that this sector offers value for select opportunities, given that values have reset and assets can be acquired well below replacement costs. We also think supply will be constrained over the next few years, particularly given high construction costs.
Whilst the above macro factors and overriding themes are relevant to our investment decisions, Corval has a nimble approach and we invest across a number of sectors. We believe that we can find pockets of value in any market, by focusing on both macro factors and by understanding the micro drivers of value relevant to specific property opportunities.
“After a period of declining values, we believe the office sector is presenting selective opportunities, given that values have reset and assets can be acquired well below replacement costs.“
Q6) What moment or who (which mentor or former manager) in your professional life has most shaped your career?
The defining moment in my career was my decision to move from Perth to Sydney in 1996. At that time, I had no real estate experience, having been working in audit at Arthur Andersen. One of the firm’s clients, Armstrong Jones, had recently been acquired by ING and was relocating operations to Sydney.
Following a suggestion from my manager, I met with the CFO at Armstrong Jones and secured a role as fund manager of the listed Armstrong Jones Retail Fund based in Sydney. This was my entrée into the real estate funds management industry and was a great place to learn a broad base of skills, as I was responsible for all aspects of that small, listed fund including the accounting, tax, capital management, hedging, investor relations and investment decisions.
As markets, regulation and operating environments continue to evolve, Corval remains focused on disciplined decision-making and capital protection. Kerr’s insights reflect a long-term approach, shaped by risk management, evolving market conditions and disciplined capital allocation across property sectors.
