Meet the team: Rachel Barr, Oyster’s Chief Financial Officer

With a financial management and accounting career spanning [more than two] decades in the property industry, our CFO, Rachel Barr, has guided both local and international companies through multiple sector and economic cycles.

After kicking off her career in the UK gaining experience across large Pan-European property funds, Rachel returned to New Zealand to take up role at NZX listed NZX-listed Goodman Property Trust during a key period of growth.

She joined Oyster in 2014 as Chief Financial Officer, bringing with her a wealth of sector experience and has played a key role in the leadership of the Oyster portfolio over the last nine years.

We sat down with Rachel to get her take on the current operating environment and what’s next for Oyster.

“Property is defensive by nature. After more than [20] years in the property industry, I’ve seen this asset class successfully come through many periods of economic volatility and continue to deliver growth.

“There’s no sugar coating that today’s environment is a challenging one. The view globally is that pressure on investment returns will continue in the near term.

“Right now, the property sector and those who invest in it are feeling the ongoing impact.

“But the economy will always be cyclical, and the longer-term outlook for the commercial property asset class remains fairly balanced,” says Rachel.

“You’ve still got the strong, underlying property fundamentals there, which is what drives investment value in the long-term.

“We are committed to delivering the on benefits of these fundamentals for our investors.

“Throughout my career, I’ve seen some of the best value creation opportunities come at the turn of the cycle.

“Alongside ensuring our funds remain resilient to current market conditions, a key focus for the team is ensuring we are ready to maximise these opportunities for investors – within our current portfolio, and beyond.

“Looking forward, we are working to ensure our fund structures are enduring across all market cycles and that our investment portfolio and service offering continues to evolve to meet the changing needs of the market.

“The expectations from both investor and tenants around environmental, social and governance frameworks have also progressed.

We’re firmly committed to meeting these and leading the market with a sustainable, future-focused and resilient investment portfolio.”