In profile: Opteon Property Group Victoria's managing director, Chris Knight

Name: Chris Knight

Position: Managing director

Company: Opteon Property Group Victoria

Office Location: Melbourne

How long have you been in the industry?

I have been employed with Opteon (Victoria) since 2006 and was appointed to the position of managing director in 2011. I previously held roles including director of residential services, operations manager and senior valuer and have been immersed in the industry for almost 17 years.

What's happening in the area you specialise in?

I've just spent some time in the US to understand other property markets and how they are innovating. Australian companies, especially those in property, are often not strong in areas of innovation and that's a key aspect we're concentrating on.

From a tactical level we are breaking down traditional product silos and focusing more on geography where practical. Training of our people is of key importance to us, and this means our staff can more easily cross product environments and increase their learning and career potential.

Describe the most interesting commercial property you have worked on.

Opteon have key specialisations in almost all aspects of property and assets, and as such we see an enormous variety of interesting properties and projects.

We are regularly involved in providing advice on multi-level and multi-use residential and commercial development projects, as well as valuing pubs and hotels, petrol stations and most other forms of special use commercial property.

We are involved in landlord and tenant disputes, family law advice regarding the assessment of asset portfolios as well as the advice for the property aspect of land acquisition for public use, including road widenings and other public services.

One of particular interest, however, was the valuation of a WWII Mustang fighter aircraft undertaken by our head of plant and equipment. The assessment of value of this aircraft was quite in-depth and very interesting.

What are the ingredients to being successful in your job?

One of my favourite sayings is "a business that stands still is actually moving backwards". I think the ingredients to being successful in any job or industry is identifying how you can continue to get the most out of yourself and the people around you, and continue to push yourself beyond the 'comfort zone' and shake up the traditional way of thinking.

In essence, be prepared to do things differently.

Being successful in my role is ensuring that those around me are successful also, and to create an environment where I enjoy my work, and where others do too.

What aspects of your role do you enjoy the most?

I am passionate about creating something different, not just another property company. Setting a positive culture, assisting people to reach their goals and aligning goals of staff to those of a business is really important to me. I enjoy creating highly effective teams, which have a client and delivery focus.

Where would you invest a spare $750,000?

Firstly, I would only invest in something that I understood, which for me is obviously property. The other important aspect is to have a clear strategy (short/medium/long term etc).

However, invariably I would look to an asset class which could attract debt, provide a good yield (preferably covering debt requirements), whilst also having good potential for strong capital growth, whether that be through change in the utilisation of the land component, further development or strong market growth through demand.

But there is one constant in this strategy, and that is land; my opinion is you must have land in the asset, as that is the key component, which will appreciate in value. Asset classes such as residential development or commercial assets with a strong land component would be of interest.

Which football team do you support?

Geelong Football Club.

What is your favourite app or techno gadget?

I confess to having a bent at the moment to Sudoku apps that I use in my downtime, although I do use apps such as UrbanSpoon, Strava and LinkedIn on a regular basis.

How do you use social media?

As a business, social media is an invaluable tool that enables us to understand and connect with our target audience. We use this medium on a regular basis to build and differentiate the brand of the company and the individuals within it.

It also permits us to communicate effectively in real time and keep abreast of industry developments.