Q&A with DWS Group head of UK Jessica Hardman

This article was written for EG’s Starting Out in Real Estate guide, click here to view the digital edition >>

Jessica Hardman is head of UK at global asset manager DWS Group. She assumed the role in June 2023 following a career in real estate fund management, most recently as DWS’s head of European real estate portfolio management – a role that she retains.

In 2022 she also became the British Property Federation’s junior vice president.

Sarah Jackman caught up with her to find out how she began her journey in real estate and what skills, interests and attributes she has needed to propel her into leadership.

How did you become interested in real estate as a career?

I became interested through family links. My dad worked for a small-scale residential developer on the Welsh Borders, so I grew up being with him on building sites and trying to understand his day job.

I also remember the occasional school trip to London theatres and being inspired by some of the high-rise buildings on the A4. I thought: who built those? Who works in them? That piqued my interest.

How did you progress into studying real estate?

Like many students, I picked A-levels that were my best subjects from GCSE – geography, business and economics – and I looked for a career path after that.

That’s when the idea of becoming a surveyor was introduced to me, and I chose to study a BSc in real estate management at Oxford Brookes University.

At that point I still really didn’t know what the career was. There was very little careers information about being a surveyor, certainly from my sixth form college. I knew that I must have a skill set that I could offer the industry, but what I was going to do wasn’t clear until my final years at university.

Tell me about your journey into the industry

I started by qualifying as a chartered surveyor at a mid-sized surveying firm – Weatherall Green & Smith – which was acquired by BNP Paribas.

I undertook the APC. What’s great about that qualification is you get a lot of experience. Particularly in the company I was at: three placements, three different departments, all connected to real estate.
I started my training in retail leasing in Tunbridge Wells.

I progressed to working in valuation, which is central to everything you do in real estate across the industry. After I qualified, I specialised in the investment brokerage department, with a particular focus on central London. That was the start of my career at Deutsche Bank.

You have recently been appointed head of UK-based operations for DWS. What do you do day to day?

I have two hats in the role here at DWS, where I’ve spent a lot of my career. DWS was a division of Deutsche Bank and it IPO’d about six years ago to create an independent global asset manager. Still the same company, but under a different ownership structure.

Today, I run European portfolio management for real estate. The job there is running funds and overseeing a fund management team where we specialise in international investors investing in our products and strategies.

The second part of my role is the new responsibility: to head up the office for the UK. A company like DWS invests in real estate, but also other things such as infrastructure projects, exchange-traded funds and stocks and shares picking, so a real suite of different adjacent asset classes.

The team in London is around 450 people. I oversee them, the culture and the growth strategies for the whole organisation.

Jessica Hardman: career journey

1998: begins journey into property by studying a BSc in real estate at Oxford Brookes University
2001: accepts a place on a two-year graduate scheme at BNP Paribas and gains MRICS accreditation before joining its investment team
2004: begins fund management and investment career at Deutsche Bank in the UK real estate transactions team
2013: promoted to head of UK real estate transactions at Deutsche Bank
2017: becomes head of European portfolio management and UK real estate group at DWS Global Investments following an IPO; takes up place on its board
2022: appointed British Property Federation junior vice president
2023: promoted to head of DWS UK, in addition to her role as head of European real estate portfolio management
2024: will become British Property Federation president for a 12-month term

What do you enjoy about your role?

A few things really keep me interested, and I know that I’ve found the right role for me.

I do a lot of strategic thinking. That might be for a business plan or strategic thinking on behalf of our investors. Where to invest next? What are they looking for from the markets? How can we best advise them? I’ve matured into wanting to create medium-term plans and execute on them, which is something that comes with leadership.

The second thing I have always enjoyed is travelling. I’ve managed to orientate myself into a role that allows me to travel extensively globally. I’ve been doing that since 2010, when I started to push into the Asian investor market. I really enjoy experiencing different cultures, meeting different people and visiting different locations to invest in.

The final thing I really enjoy is project management: you are putting together multiple talents to execute a business plan. I enjoy working with diverse minds – people with different skill sets who all add an important ingredient to an outcome, which might be a development, a refurbishment, starting a fund, selling an asset or buying an asset. Putting expertise together and you all winning together is a great part of the industry.

What are the principles or broad purpose that guides you when you’re making leadership decisions?

I have orientated my career to have as much commercial understanding as possible.

I have navigated my experience through multiple different departments, people and expertise, and had mentors to help me with that.

Understanding what is being asked of you on that day, on that project and in that interaction is central. That builds confidence that you are able to respond to the needs of the sector.

Leading with integrity is an absolute must. It’s a core principle of mine. I want to be trusted. I want to be understood. I want to be able to communicate well so that people understand where we’re trying to reach if I’m guiding a team.

Having a decisive attitude has always helped. I think that has come from being in transactions where you need to be a quick thinker. That is definitely a personality trait of mine.

But what I’ve learnt over the years is being able to communicate that as well. You can be the quickest thinker in town, but if no one else understands where your mind has already raced to, what good is that?

Teams win, not individuals. Being able to articulate the why of your decision is really important, and I put that up there as a priority when leading the fantastic teams I work with today.

What is a fund manager?

A fund manager is responsible for investing money on behalf of clients to meet agreed investment outcomes. These clients can be individual (usually very wealthy) investors or institutional investors such as pension funds, insurance companies and mutual funds.

Fund managers are accountable for developing and implementing the investment strategy, managing all portfolio trading, ensuring that appropriate records are kept and managing a team of investment analysts.

They must also meet with current and potential clients to communicate investment challenges and opportunities, research investments alongside their team and keep abreast of business and economic news and trends that may impact their portfolios.

When managing the investments of a mutual fund, hedge fund or other type of investment fund on behalf of its investors or shareholders, their primary goal is to maximise returns while managing risk and maintaining the fund’s investment objectives.

Different fund managers have different investment styles and approaches, leading to variations in performance and risk profiles between funds.

The funds themselves can invest money in all kinds of different asset classes, from equities to infrastructure, office buildings to government bonds – and more. Funds can either hold a mix of different assets or be narrower and target only one asset class. Funds can be managed by one fund manager, two co-managers or even larger teams.

A fund manager requires great communication skills, an analytical mind, in-depth understanding of businesses and economics and strong mathematics skills. Fund managers usually work at a mutual fund, pension fund, trust fund, hedge fund or investment bank.

You are a passionate advocate of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. Describe the initiatives that you have been involved in to accelerate that

I have been fortunate to work with many different organisations, both internally and externally. Internally at DWS, I was one of the founding organisers of the People Engagement Group.

We started it in the UK when we were a division of Deutsche Bank and it has now been rolled out globally. It focuses on people engagement initiatives, get-togethers, knowledge sharing and learning experiences. So, creating that diversity of mind and showing how powerful that can be.

I’ve had the opportunity to work with the British Property Federation. I’ve undertaken its mentoring series and I have the privilege of leading the BPF as president in 2024.

I also work with Real Estate Balance, INREV and the Investment Property Forum: they all have mentoring and reverse mentoring opportunities that I have been involved with.

The final thing I have always tried to do is accept speaking opportunities. I understand how powerful it is to have a mentor or someone female from a pretty normal background in a leadership role. Seeing that is inspiring. I looked for those individuals when I was developing my career.

What are the key things that have helped to accelerate your career?

When I was a junior, I would get involved in anything. I took every opportunity with gusto and wanted to apply myself.

Having a broad knowledge as a junior, learning different skills, being involved in many different projects and parts of the organisation, was a good way of equipping myself to eventually choose the things that I may want to specialise in.

With that, you network because you meet a diverse group of people, inside your company and externally. Real estate still has that as a central principle: we are a good networking industry – we help each other. It’s amazing how collegiate the industry can be when you ask for a call to arms to help you with something.

I have also taken some risks. I moved into areas where perhaps I saw an opportunity, but others didn’t. That might be creating a new growth strategy for DWS; it might be bringing on fresh talent that were different from the rest; it might be handling my budgets differently.

My final thing in terms of career acceleration is being friendly and open-minded. It’s a simple thing, but you find that people help you and they lift you when you’re nice to them and you enjoy the conversation.

Hopefully that is something that people still recognise in me now. If they knew me 20 years ago, that hasn’t changed. I’m the same person, just with more things on my list of things to do.

When you reflect on the industry, what do you love about it and what would you recommend to others?

I didn’t really know where to start, but luckily I fell into a career that I love.

Research all the avenues of real estate. Don’t think it’s one thing because it’s not. It’s a multitude of different initiatives and job pathways, and you will find the right one for your personality type or areas of interest. Look for work experience opportunities.

There are a number of initiatives that can help you with that or do it through your university or connections.

Look at the industry bodies that support some of the knowledge building that you have, read the financial press, read industry publications to help you get a broader mind and go get involved. It is an amazing career.

I can’t believe how fortunate I’ve been to have had such a great experience, and that is available to everyone.

What is the British Property Federation?

The BPF is a membership organisation for the real estate industry. It works with members to support a diverse, successful and sustainable real estate industry recognised for the contribution it makes to society. Its membership is broad and includes owners, developers, funders, agents and advisers.

It works collaboratively with national and local government and other partners, by promoting knowledge, innovation and best practice within the industry, and helping to aid understanding of the sector.

BPF Futures is open to anyone in England and Scotland with less than 10 years’ experience in the property industry. It is a group of young-in-career professionals who are passionate about real estate and want to shape its future while learning from each other and industry leaders.

It runs regular networking events, as well as providing mentoring opportunities.