Debra Mistretta
Managing director and co-head of real estate at BlackRock
Debra Mistretta has more than 35 years of experience in private equity real estate across both acquisitions and portfolio management, and has spent more than two decades at BlackRock alone. In addition to delivering strong portfolio performance for the firm, she’s known as a champion for women investors, mentoring several women throughout her career.
Based in Livingston, N.J., Mistretta was named co-manager of BlackRock’s Americas Real Estate Equity business in 2023, and has positioned the business to benefit from structural forces that BlackRock believes will drive the economy.
Her $2 billion portfolio primarily consists of industrial assets in supply-constrained markets, a diversified mix of multifamily properties and grocery-anchored retail in select markets. For the separately managed accounts where Mistretta is lead portfolio manager, BlackRock serves as the investment adviser, acquiring and managing assets on behalf of large U.S. pension funds.
Mistretta believes this period represents one of the most compelling investment vintages in over a decade.
“The sharp rise in interest rates has reset asset values across product types, creating opportunities for new investment,” Mistretta said. “Medium-term supply-demand dynamics appear favorable. We see a meaningful role for institutional capital to help address a persistent structural undersupply of multifamily assets in the U.S. BlackRock is seeing attractive opportunities in the grocery-anchored retail space, which is offering relatively attractive yields and has a constructive outlook due to de minimis supply being delivered in the last 10 years and relatively resilient consumer spending.”
The industrial sector is undergoing a period of recalibration today, as leasing activity has normalized from record levels seen post-COVID, Mistretta said. “That said, we still selectively consider high-quality, high-credit assets with long lease terms and opportunities within supply-constrained, infill locations that have persistent demand drivers.”
Over the past 18 months, Mistretta and her team have been actively pursuing investments for a new core mandate. “Early on, there was limited institutional capital in the market, with private buyers dominating bid sheets. Over the past six months, however, we’ve observed a notable increase in institutional interest in multifamily and retail properties,” she said.
Previously, Mistretta was the portfolio manager for a value-add commingled fund at BlackRock.
