To celebrate International Women’s Day 2025 on 8 March, BE News ran a series of interviews with inspirational women who work across the built environment sector
Name: Cecile Babcock
Job title: Head of distribution, Edge
Why I got into the property industry: After working in mortgage-backed securities for several years, I liked the idea of working in an industry where there was a literal tangible thing and the fact that every real estate transaction is different. In economics-speak, it’s an inherently heterogeneous asset class.
How I did it: During my MBA I did a project for Invesco that was essentially a viability assessment around tokenising a global real estate fund such that it could be made available to retail investors. This was in 2019, when tokenisation was both en vogue and poorly understood, so there wasn’t much specific guidance and it was a bit of a regulatory minefield. But it offered me a glimpse into the property world, and there was quite a lot of crossover with my experience in asset-backed debt securities, which, if you think about it, is just another form of (very) indirect real estate investment.
My first proper job: My first real desk job with KPIs and business plans and bad coffee was as the position trader for a boutique residential-backed debt originator in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was an incredibly steep learning curve – I still can’t quite believe that they trusted an untested 23-year-old to look after $4bn of debt – and the 6am starts were brutal, but it a great way to learn the ins and outs of capital markets.
My greatest achievement/proudest moment to date: In terms of singular pop the champagne-type moments, I would say graduating with my MBA from Cambridge. It’s an incredible feeling to know you’re walking in the footsteps of all the brilliant people who have passed through there over the last 800 years.
The biggest challenge I’ve encountered to date: Along with all the other Millennials, my working life has been defined by multiple “once in a lifetime” financial crises, so probably that.
What I do in my downtime: What downtime? Jokes aside, I do yoga and I’ve ridden horses since childhood, so I try and fit in a hack whenever possible.
The job I’d be doing if I was not doing this: I have a fondness for both commodities and international relations – I find it fascinating that salt and sugar, of all things, fundamentally altered the course of human history – so I would probably pick a cool obscure commodity and write a book about its impact on global affairs.
The biggest misconception people have about the property industry: A lot of people seem to think of the property industry as either buying and flipping houses or building massive gold-plated hotels. That is, of course, not terribly accurate.
My inspiration: Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson, who were the team who wrote out (by hand!) the calculations required to send rockets into space. Everything about that blows my mind.
Who I’d invite, living or dead, to a dinner party: Without getting into US politics, Barack Obama seems like he would be a great dinner party guest and all-around excellent conversationalist.
My advice for someone just starting out: There is no substitute for being proactive and putting yourself out there. Don’t be afraid of looking stupid. I can guarantee that every successful person has looked stupid at least once in their life.
My motto/mantra: Fortune favours the bold!
