by Supunya Saluja, MIFFT2025
I was always told that nothing teaches you more than traveling. My exchange to New York was one way of realising how true this is. To put things in perspective, I am a Masters in Finance Full-time student, who stepped foot into Sussex Place for the first time in August 2025. London Business School is a dream for most, and I was privileged enough to experience it. It is indeed an extravagant canvas with colours from all around the world, but LBS goes way beyond its campus in London, figuratively and literally!
At the cost of sounding very serious and nerdy, I will confess that the classroom has been my favourite place at LBS. Primarily because all my classes were with fantastic professors and fabulous study groups, and peers. I bring this up here because most of these amazing people come from different parts of the world. The perspective, understanding, and values they brought to class were what set the experience apart for me.
So, when the opportunity to take a block week elective at Columbia Business School came up, I was excited and ready to hop on a transatlantic flight. Destination…New York City!
I took the Real Estate class in CBS with the aim of sitting amongst a very talented and experienced group in the heart of New York City. Having worked in real estate before, I had an idea of what a property portfolio can look like and was hoping to be that woman who can confidently say she knows what real estate investing is. But I came back with much more than that.
The class I enjoyed most was discussing how cap rates and interest rates are tightly linked, and while inflation may lift rents, FED rate hikes reduce the value of future cash flows, pulling prices down. I have always struggled with understanding how one moves with the other swinging, and it was an absolute relief to dissect this understanding into much simpler terms. Low cap rate assets like apartments, much like tech stocks, are more “duration-sensitive” and lose more value when rates rise. While higher cap rate assets, like malls, are less affected since their cash flows are nearer term. In short, real estate only partly hedges inflation, and ironically, the fastest-growing sectors are often the most vulnerable.
Is the Mayfair Mansion worth it? Many of us struggle with the decision between renting or buying, so we spent a great deal of time in class, understanding the factors that shape this decision. When I analysed a twelve-room mansion in arguably the poshest areas of London, I got surprising results. The returns in the current market, much to my disdain, did not justify that price tag, and adding it may do more harm than good to your portfolio.
Spain is the perfect spot to relax, but is it to invest? One of the study group assignments was an analysis of owning family-run distressed properties by acquiring them below replacement cost and repositioning them in a leisure-driven market through rebranding and capex. Spain, the most active hotel investment market and the fastest-growing major economy in Europe, was our top choice for this strategy. Targeting a fragmented market, capitalising on the sectoral gaps and repositioning undermanaged or underinvested assets to finally exit in the medium term did yield a tempting internal rate of return at the end of the day!
While these were my star takeaways, my trip’s highlights were unarguably beyond the CBS campus. My study group (all my peers from LBS who were taking the class with me at CBS) made sure we also made the most of NYC whilst we were acing real estate. We enjoyed walks through the Central Park on sunny days and made sure we did not miss tasting the legendary American burger. NYC is where I also discovered the artist I resonate with the most – courtesy: my trip to The Met – Agnes Northrop. I was always the numbers girl, Northrop’s work and creativity changed how I “value art” going forward.
I remember walking through Broadway, wondering how a city could hum with so much life even at midnight. Manhattan never sleeps. It pulses, breathes, and dances with energy. There is nothing a day in downtown Manhattan can’t fix.
One evening, perched on a rooftop bar, I found myself entranced by the NYC skyline before me. That iconic sweep of light and ambition. In that still moment above the noise, I realised how beautifully busy this city is, how its rhythm mirrors our own as finance professionals: always moving, always striving. Yet even here, amidst the momentum, I learned the quiet power of pause. To stop, to breathe, to look back and realise how far you’ve come. Somewhere between the chaos and calm, New York made me more reflective, perhaps even a little poetic.
This experience has moved me in ways I hadn’t anticipated. It opened my eyes to what’s possible both in my career and in my real estate ambitions. Looking at the NYC skyline, (and yes, the Empire State Building demands its mention), you can’t help but feel it’s completely alright to have sky-high dreams. Somewhere between living and dreaming, there is New York.
I circle back to my first day at London Business School and remember what one of my seniors told me. There is always so much to do at LBS. You might run out of time, but never options. Those words have echoed throughout my journey. This past year has been a testament to that truth in every class, every challenge, every exchange shaping me in its own way. When you walk through the gates onto Sussex Place as a student for the very first time, you will never walk out the same. LBS changes you, just as my experience in New York did. It shapes your world view, broadens your ambitions, and reminds you that growth often begins the moment you step outside your comfort zone. Both experiences taught me that transformation happens not only through what you learn, but also through where you go, who you meet, and how open you are to being changed along the way.