April 07, 2025

Strategically Investing and Navigating Through Market Volatility with Brook Scardina, Managing Partner - Capital Markets & Investments, Oak Real Estate Partners

56 minutes

Brook Scardina is a Managing Partner - Capital Markets & Investments with Atlanta, GA-based Oak Real Estate Partners (OREP). OREP is an institutional small balance sheet private credit bridge lender that invests in high-quality, short-duration senior-position loans on positive income-producing commercial real estate assets.

Brook and I discussed how investors can think about investing and navigating this period of volatility and market uncertainty, how alternatives and private credit generally, and real estate bridge lending specifically, can help mitigate portfolio volatility, offer enhanced diversification, and attractive risk-adjusted yields.

The investment thesis at OREP is supported by increasing and tighter banking regulations which has created a unique investment opportunity for experienced private credit lenders to fill the lending void in the generation of attractive, uncorrelated returns that enhance diversification.

About Oak Real Estate Partners:
https://www.oakrepartners.com/about/

Brook Scardina Bio:
Brook Scardina is Managing Partner, Capital Markets & Investments, for Oak Real Estate Partners (OREP), where he leads the external capital markets strategy for the national fund manager focused on the institutional investment sector. He is responsible for advising on, solving and delivering alternative investment solutions that support the institutional return objectives of investors including foundations and endowments, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and corporate and public pension plans.

Over the past two decades, Brook has been involved in the participation and underwriting of more than $12 billion in capital deployed across multiple asset classes including equity, fixed income, diversifying strategies, hedge funds and alternative assets, and complex investment strategies. His career includes roles managing the financial and investment risk complexities for well-known organizations such as the Georgia Tech Foundation, UNC Management Company and UPS Group Trust, a $29-billion defined benefit trust. Immediately prior to joining OREP, Brook was Head of Institutional Consulting for Crescent Wealth Advisory.

Brook, who holds a Series 65 certification from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), earned master’s degree in business administration from Auburn University and a bachelor’s degree in finance from Georgia Southern University. He has served as a client advisory board member of the Bank of New York Mellon and is the current Chairman of the Board for the Roswell United Methodist Foundation in Atlanta, where he is based.

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