Brian Sunday, Managing Director & Portfolio Manager, AEW

"The evolution of having both good care and a good overall experience has been a big positive for the industry."

Growing up in Philadelphia, a proud, passionate city and fanbase renowned for their sports teams – tell us a couple of your most memorable Philadelphia game experiences?

Growing up a Philly fan has taught me one thing.. how to live with disappointment. However even us Philly fans has had some bright moments, more recently than when I was young, but here are some of my most disappointing memories.. always gives me a good laugh looking back

• 1998 Fog Bowl game – Eagles vs Bears playoff game

• 1993 World seirs – Mitch “wild Thing” Williams walk off homerun to Joe Carter

• 2000 Stanley Cup playoffs – Scott stevens knocks out Eric Lindros in Game 7

• 2001 NBA finals – Shaq and Kobe embarrass Iverson and the Sixers

• 2004 – Smarty Jones loses the Belmont and the triple crown!

As weather gets better during the Spring and as Summer nears, what are a few activities the Sunday family enjoys together on a nice day/weekend in Boston?

If we happen not be on a sports field, the Sundays will find something to do outside,, beach, boat, golf, etc..

There has been significant growth and changes in the seniors housing industry since you started at AEW in 2005. Could you walk us through some of the most notable transformations you've witnessed over the years?

One of the biggest changes I’ve seen since 2005 is how the industry focused on bringing more hospitality into the communities. When the resident profile shifted from the Greatest generation to the Silent Generation so did the experience the resident was expecting when moving into a community. Seeing such additions of rooftop bars, multiple dining venues, bigger units, and even golf simulators have all had positive impact on the overall experience for residents. Now providing good quality care continues to be the most important aspect of senior housing but the evolution of having both good care and a good overall experience has been a big positive for the industry.

How has your personal view of the industry changed over that time?

This industry has and will continue to play an important role for this country, especially going forward where the 80+ population will see accelerated growth. My personal view has not changed from that importance. However, I will add that it made me proud to see this entire industry come together in 2020 during Covid. No matter if you were an operator, investor, lender, supplier, etc, everyone came together to assure this industry did its best to keep residents and employees safe. It proved why this industry is so great.

AEW has always taken great pride in data collection and analytics, how and why is this data-driven approach so important to your investment thesis and strategy?

Data is great to have but what you do with that data is more important. Over time, we have learned and will continue to learn how to use this data to help our investment strategy. This data allows us to be more efficient but more importantly helps us see trends and red flags so we can stay ahead of them and mitigate potential risks.

What are your views on technology and the importance and role in seniors housing, and how, if at all, is AEW adapting its strategies to leverage technological advancements?

We are in the early stages of how and when technology will play a role in the industry but it’s an area we are staying out in front of. We are constantly collaborating with our different operators to pilot different software and products and sharing feedback we get. We also have a team member, who is on the NIC technology committee, who has weekly conversations with different vendors learning what is out there and what sounds interesting. As I said, were in the early stages so hard to quantify results but I do know this, these technologies will help operators be more efficient in the future but more importantly it will help provide a better safer experience for residents.