What does it take to walk away from a successful private-equity career and build your own real-estate investment platform from scratch?

This week, I sat down with Anthony Maxwell-Jones, Founder & Managing Partner at Valorem Investment Partners, to unpack his journey from the early days at Mercer / Castleforge to founding Valorem - and what he's learned along the way about timing, risk, and backing yourself.

Anthony has quietly built one of the UK's most interesting boutique investment platforms, deploying over £80 million across offices, student, residential, hotel, and strategic-land assets - achieving a 20 % IRR and 2.2× MOIC.

We discuss how he spotted opportunity in the wake of the GFC, why he left a newly raised fund to go it alone, and the lessons that came from building Valorem through Brexit, Covid, and a volatile rate cycle.

⸻

Key Topics Covered In This Episode:

✅ From Castleforge to Valorem - How Anthony transitioned from analyst to entrepreneur

✅ The Leap - What gave him the confidence to found his own firm at 27

✅ Covid Chaos - How a "malicious virus clause" saved a £90 million office scheme

✅ Family Office Capital - Building trust, track record & long-term partnerships

✅ Discipline & Patience - Investing through a stagnant market without pressure to deploy

✅ Future Focus - Why defence infrastructure and core-plus offices are on his radar

⸻

Oh, and one last thing…

In every episode, I ask each guest: Who are the People, what Property, and which Place they'd invest in if they had £500 million at their disposal?

Anthony's answer did not disappoint 👌

Got any thoughts or questions about this podcast? Drop them in the comments - I'm always up for a chat!

And if you're enjoying what I'm putting out, don't forget to hit subscribe and turn on the notification bell so you never miss an episode.

The People Property Place Podcast is powered by Rockbourne – Recruiting Leadership & Future Leadership hires for Real Estate Funds, Owners, Investors & Developers.

🔊 LIKE ➡ SHARE ➡ SUBSCRIBE

👉 http://peoplepropertyplace.com/