Gawain Smart, CEO of International Campus Group, joins me on the People Property Place Podcast 🎙️ this week.
We talk through his journey from a legal career in Canada and Wall Street to running one of Europe’s largest living sector platforms.
We get into what it takes to scale and professionalise a private equity-backed real estate business, how to lead through change, and what’s coming next for European student and co-living assets.
If you're interested in operational real estate, business building, or managing complex international platforms, this one's for you.
Key Topics Covered in This Episode:
• Breaking free from early career inertia
• Moving from execution to leadership and why being a generalist matters
• What it really means to institutionalise a founder-led business
• Building the right team and why people issues make or break a CEO
• Growing ICG’s AUM to a mammoth €1.9bn across Europe
• How to prioritise when everything feels urgent
• Co-living vs student housing and why ICG focuses on both
• The value of local teams in pan-European investing
• Structuring pan-European teams and deal flow and why patience is critical
• Why European PBSA is still in its infancy and where the real supply/demand gap lies
• Capital flows shifting into Europe and what’s attracting investors right now
• How AI will reshape talent, workflows, and decision-making
And finally...
With £500m to invest, which People, what Property, and which Place would Gawain choose?
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