One of senior living’s most influential leaders discusses why he is bullish about investment opportunities in the aging space, and bearish on the ability of many of today’s biggest operators to satisfy new demand. About Bob Bob Kramer is Founder and Fellow of Nexus Insights, a thought leadership platform dedicated to the dissemination of ideas and models that challenge the status quo and contribute to the transformation of housing and aging services for older adults. He is also Co-founder, former CEO, and now Strategic Advisor at the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC). Described as an “ice-cutter,” he is masterful at identifying industries and trends that will disrupt the status quo and shape the future of senior housing, aging services, and aging more broadly. In 1991, he founded NIC to advance access and choice in seniors housing and care by attracting capital to grow the sector. Under his leadership, NIC became the go-to resource for data and analytics for the rapidly expanding seniors housing and care industry and an acknowledged thought leader for new ideas and trends impacting the provision of housing, services, and care for older adults. Educated at Harvard and Oxford Universities, he holds a Master of Divinity degree from Westminster Theological Seminary. Key Takeaways The pandemic has exposed a broken system in long-term care that has, in the words of Joseph Coughlin at the MIT age lab, “propelled us into our future faster.” Fundamental change in how we think about aging and retirement will drive innovation in seniors housing and services. Senior living of the future will not be called senior living. The biggest trend in senior living is a move from surviving to thriving—from a dependency-driven model of aging emphasizing care and amenities, to a community model allowing people to contribute and flourish. It’s not just about lifelong learning, it’s learning for a longer life. Locating senior living facilities around universities is a natural because attending college was a formative experience for Boomers. Senior living is experiencing disruptive innovation—if you don’t change, you’re going to get “disrupted” right out of business.