It is a long way from organising Rowdy Rabbit shows in Centre Court at Charlestown Square shopping centre to the CEO’s office at Stockland. It is even further from northern India to an MBA in Newcastle and Adelaide. The Tarun Gupta story is one based on strong values and hard work. We could add to that humility and the instinct to always saying “yes” to the right opportunities. We could add a love of cricket too… but that’s another story altogether. In Part A of this discussion we focus on Tarun’s upbringing, his early working life as a chef in an Indian restaurant in Newcastle and his decision making process leading him to work for Lend Lease in the early 1990s. We then delve into his approach to re-setting the overall strategy at Stockland, building on an already strong base at the group. “Matt, strategy is a process, not just an idea from the CEO” is something we took away from the discussion. We then talk through the actions that have resulted from the newly developed strategy: enhanced capital partnerships, altered asset allocation, an acceleration of the development pipeline and a refresh of the overall sustainability approach… something we will delve deeply into in Part B.

1.30 Reminiscing about the good old days

2.24 Tarun’s upbringing in India and the values instilled within him; honesty and integrity

6.40 The move to Australia and why Newcastle?

8.25 Tarun’s first jobs in Newcastle

10.45 The key to shopping centre marketing: Double sided (not handwritten) signs

12.00 Early thoughts about a funds management career

13.30 Message to graduates: Say “yes” and get different experiences. Enjoy what you do.

16.30 Key take aways from 26 years at Lend Lease

18.25 Getting the phone call for the Stockland CEO role (Tarun is the 5th CEO of Stockland in 70 years) to join a “strong platform”

20.35 Two early factors to address: 1) Access to capital and 2)Portfolio weighting to the right sectors

21.45 Tarun’s support network

23.00 “Strategy is a process”. The team comes along on the journey

24.40 “We believe there is a better way to live”. The clarity of purpose – authentic and permeates throughout the organisation

28.25 How the following areas work into the Stockland strategy: Urbanisation and reshaping the portfolio; institutional capital being allocated to real estate; technology/digitisation and ESG/sustainability

34.30 Asset allocation: When Stockland will get there

36.20 How has Stockland managed to accelerate its development pipeline so quickly and effectively

39.40 Capital Partner early wins

41.47 The key elements within Stockland that allow the Partnerships to work well… with thanks to Professor Gupta

45.00 Retail and Industrial lend themselves naturally to Partnerships