Jonathan Kern is GE Real Estate's Global Chief Investment Officer, responsible for strategic planning at one of the world’s largest and most diverse commercial real estate companies. To Jonathan, strategic planning is an essential component of consistent business growth over the long term. With this perspective, he provides overall direction for the business, with particular attention to penetrating new markets and formulating new products.

Jonathan arrived at GE Real Estate in 2003 and, starting with a staff of 10, worked to build GE’s ability to offer an increasingly wide range of real estate products to a broader and more global range of clients. Today he manages a team of 90 planners, market researchers and other specialists evenly split between Norwalk, Connecticut and the individual business units across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Their charter is to see, and seize, opportunity in advance of change.

Jonathan’s team utilizes extensive market research and rigorous process to analyze each opportunity. Then the team prepares a strategic plan for implementation by the local or business managers. In addition, Jonathan is also responsible for managing the firm’s commercial excellence, customer loyalty, sales force effectiveness, market research and marketing communications programs. Under his leadership, GE Real Estate has seen increasing customer satisfaction and a more productive sales force with longer average industry experience.

Before joining GE Real Estate, Jonathan spent ten years at J. E. Robert Company, a privately held real estate investment firm, the last six of which he served as President and Chief Investment Officer. Previously, he spent seven years with Bankers Trust Company holding positions of increasing responsibility in real estate finance.

He graduated cum laude from Harvard University with a BA in Economics and received an MBA with distinction from The Wharton School.