Finding Opportunities in Global Recession

Adnan Zai
3 min readNov 6, 2019

As global recession seems to be an increasingly common topic of conversation, most companies, firms and governments are asking one question: what is going to go wrong, and how can I keep myself from losing too much?

As a company whose roots in real estate date back 30+ years, Omni Global Capital is used to watching markets and considering the opposite: how can we benefit from an economy in recession? While we are avoiding pitfalls, how can we reach higher ground than even before the recession?

Watching the Market

By nature, the event of global recession means everyone is impacted, and that includes the United States momentarily weakening as the powerhouse of consumption and foreign trade it has been for some time. Lower interest rates will follow to help cushion the economy, allowing businesses to ease themselves through the tough times. The dollar will weaken and reduce the value of outgoing investment, encouraging growth from within and attracting investment from abroad. As leaders in business and government contemplate the problems of a weak dollar, we are thinking of the opportunities available.

Who Else Will See Opportunity?

Investment from emerging markets like those in South America, Asia or the Middle East will be welcomed as the falling value of the dollar empowers these economies to put funds into the United States. Some countries with historically closed markets, like Brazil, are opening themselves up to investment and are, in turn, likely to look outward as well. A natural fit for Latin American investment is the United States for numerous reasons, the least of which is proximity.

Senior housing is a sound place for that capital because it is more resilient to recession when compared to other asset classes, and its demand is not going to wane as we continue aging. It is a reality that the population is trending grayer every year, and that comes with a variety of changes to the U.S. economy.

A Safe Investment

The safety of investing in Senior Housing could be part of the emergence of wealth in South America, the Middle East, and Asia for years to come because the change happening within the asset class is leaning towards increasing the scope of care. Misconceptions about Senior Housing obscure the potential of the investment because they do not consider that the care component has come to share space with hospitality and…

Adnan Zai

As an Advisor-In-Residence, Adnan particularly focuses on strategy, deal pipeline, and structuring.