SOME 230 SENIOR-LEVEL EXECUTIVES GATHERED AT THE Boulders Resortin Carefree, AZ last month for Ernst & Young's 2012 REIT CFORoundtable. The three-day event featured presentations and franktalk from analysts and REIT executives on the state of, andprospects for, public companies in a still-tough market. The nextfew pages feature excerpts from three of the event's sessions.

In the Capital Markets Update, experts—E&Y's MichaelStraneva, Jefferies & Co.s Rich Ford, Oak Hill REITManagement's Jon Fosheim and Green Street Advisors' AdamMarkman—debated REITs' access to capital and how it's being putinto play, as well as how public firms can position themselves forthe (eventual) upturn.

Meanwhile, the head of one exceptionally well-positionedcompany, Ventas' Debra Cafaro, sat down for a one-on-one talk withE&Y's Howard Roth to talk about the healthcare REIT'stremendous growth. And E&Y's Richard Sinkuler presented theaudience with his observations of real estate markets around theworld.