Doing what is ‘good’ is good for business

Our JLL team is back in Davos where we are excited to participate in the 50th annual World Economic Forum. With strong attendance as always from global leaders spanning government, business, academia and beyond, our entire JLL team has a heavy meeting schedule and great opportunity to learn, and further shape relationships and ideas over these few days. The theme this year is “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World,” which fits nicely with our Building a Better Tomorrow initiatives, and with JLL’s purpose: We shape the future of real estate for a better world.      

Geopolitical and economic headwinds continue in many areas around the globe. All the while, the clients we are talking with remain cautiously optimistic and are looking to take advantage of the extended positive economic cycle as they accelerate transformation and investment in their companies and across their portfolios. Real estate continues to see investment at record levels. In 2019, global commercial transaction volumes reached an all-time high of $800 billion, with outperformance led partly by major U.S. hubs like New York. And we don’t see these levels slowing down in the year ahead. While business is good, we must also focus on what is ‘good’ for a sustainable future and make responsible investment decisions that will help us build a better tomorrow.     

At JLL we aspire to help shape the future of real estate for a better world. As part of this commitment, this week we were announced as one of five founding partners in Bloomberg Green, a major multi-platform global initiative focused on climate change news, analysis and solutions. By leveraging deep data expertise to produce solutions-driven coverage, as well as business and investment-focused content, we can collaborate to tackle the challenges facing our ecology and economy. Our clients and prospects are looking for our leadership, and for us to drive to practical and commercial solutions.

Greg O'Brien
Chief Executive Officer, Americas