WX hosts woman of the year gala honoring Nelson

Manhattan, NY WX New York Women Executives in Real Estate (WX) hosted its annual 2023 Woman of the Year Gala at The Plaza. The sold-out gala honored Yvonne Nelson, former head of real estate, office of the New York City Comptroller, Bureau of Asset Management, for her accomplishments as a leader in the real estate and the public service industry as well as her contributions to WX over many years. This year’s event was the largest event to date with over 600 guests in attendance as well as a record-breaking year in terms of revenue and number of sponsorship commitments. 

Nelson’s career in institutional real estate began in 1989 where she rose to the ranks to a senior investment officer with the NY Common Retirement Fund until 2002. After a short stint pursuing a passion for affordable housing with the Community Development Trust as a vice president, she joined the investment staff at the NYC Comptroller in 2005 serving in senior positions.

In 2021, Nelson retired as head of real estate on behalf of the New York City Retirement Systems, an aggregation of the city’s five primary pension plans with a total of $250 billion in assets under management where she led a multi-billion global real estate portfolio currently valued at $17 billion. With a fair but firm management style, she built a diversified global portfolio from $1 billion in 2005 to $13 billion at her retirement.