The Distribution by Juniper Square

Roman Pedan is the Chief Executive Officer of Kasa Living, Inc., a flexible accommodations brand he founded in 2016.

Roman has over a decade of experience in real estate investing and technology entrepreneurship. He was an early team member at KKR's Real Estate Private Equity group where he worked on hotel transactions totaling $1.2 billion across the U.S. and was involved in every hotel transaction that KKR closed during his tenure. Roman was also an early team member at Juniper Square, a market-leading investment management platform, and was the founder of a startup called book.ly, a profitable, vertical e-commerce website that sold more than $15mm of textbooks.

In this episode, Brandon and Roman discuss:

Links:

Kasa Living

Roman on LinkedIn

[email protected]

Brandon on LinkedIn

Juniper Square

Provide feedback for the podcast

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:12) - Introducing Roman and Kasa

(00:04:02) - Roman’s career

(00:08:02) - Bridging computer science and real estate

(00:11:27) - Building Kasa

(00:23:09) - Kasa’s metrics today

(00:26:48) - How do you optimize for success between Kasa and the owner/landlord?

(00:30:28) - How do your management contracts work with owners?

(00:32:19) - Why does Kasa work in a hotel?

(00:36:34) - What trends have you seen in hospitality over the lifetime of the business?

(00:40:57) - Do you face any regulatory challenges?

(00:44:54) - Do your properties operate as both multifamily and hospitality?

(00:46:39) - Where does Kasa fit in the OpCo/PropCo model?

(00:51:23) - What are you looking forward to most over the next 12 months?

Mark Gabbay is Global CEO of LaSalle, a position he assumed in January 2021. He is responsible for strategic leadership of LaSalle’s 850+ employees and oversight of the firm’s $89 billion of assets, including investment strategy and operational activities across North America, Asia Pacific, and Europe.

Mark joined LaSalle in 2010 as Chief Investment Officer for Asia Pacific. In 2015, he became CEO of the region, in addition to his CIO oversight, and maintained overall responsibility for formulating and implementing LaSalle’s investment strategy across Asia Pacific, sourcing opportunities and overseeing the investment process.

In this episode, Brandon and Mark discuss:

Links:

LaSalle Investment Management

Juniper Square

Brandon on LinkedIn

Provide feedback for the podcast

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:37) - Mark’s background and career

(00:19:23) - LaSalle Investment Management

(00:20:50) - How did your time in Asia impact your approach to your career?

(00:25:31) - Is it common to have employees investing in the GP?

(00:25:57) - How have you developed your leadership style?

(00:30:19) - What surprised you since taking on the role of Global CEO?

(00:32:49) - Scaled vs. non-scaled products

(00:32:04) - How does the current cycle compare to previous ones you’ve experienced?

(00:40:19) - What are you seeing in terms of non-institutional appetite for private real estate?

(00:42:39) - What do investors want to know today?

(00:47:36) - Where are the real estate bright spots geographically right now?

(00:50:53) - What do you tell team members who haven’t experienced a downturn?

(00:53:56) - What’s top of mind for you right now in this environment?

(00:55:40) - What’s something most folks don’t know about you?

On this episode of The Distribution, Brandon Sedloff sits down with David Haber, a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz where he focuses on technology investments in financial services.

David was previously a senior executive in Firmwide Strategy at Goldman Sachs where he helped lead partnerships, new ventures and M&A. Before joining the firm, David was the Founder and CEO of Bond Street, which aimed to transform small business lending through technology, data, and design. Bond Street was acquired by Goldman Sachs in October 2017 as part of the firm’s digital finance business. Previously, David was a venture investor at Spark Capital and a founding associate of Locus Analytics, a start-up asset management firm.

Links:

a16z.com 

Juniper Square

Brandon on LinkedIn

Provide feedback for the podcast

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:29) - David’s background and career

(00:12:38) - Moving from entrepreneurship to a large organization

(00:17:14) - What was the thinking behind making the jump from Goldman Sachs to a16z?

(00:20:52) - The intersection of entrepreneurship and enterprise value company building

(00:27:56) - David’s experience as a venture investor

(00:29:42) - Defining Fintech

(00:33:01) - How are you adding value to partners?

(00:36:21) - What areas of Fintech are you most excited about?

(00:38:56) - Thoughts on generative AI

(00:41:47) - How are you gauging risk when underwriting an AI investment?

(00:45:20) - Developing an investment thesis

(00:47:36) - What are you excited about over the next 12 months?

The views expressed here are those of the individual personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any a16z funds. PLEASE SEE MORE HERE: https://a16z.com/disclosures/ 

On this episode of The Distribution, Brandon Sedloff sits down with John Burns, founder and CEO of John Burns Research and Consulting, an independent research and consulting firm serving the U.S. housing industry. Few people know as much about the residential market as John and his team do. During the conversation, he discussed how the single-family rental housing market has evolved since 2012, which data points his team uses to monitor supply and demand and the volatility in the mortgage market.

Links:

John on Linkedin

JBREC

Juniper Square

Brandon on LinkedIn

Provide feedback for the podcast

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:27) - John’s career and an inside look at the structure of JBREC

(00:06:19) - The story of housing in the US over the past 40 years

(00:07:39) - When did the institutionalization of housing take place?

(00:10:55) - What’s happened in SFR over the past decade?

(00:12:03) - How is institutionalization impacting the industry?

(00:15:16) - Demographics in renting vs. owning homes

(00:16:14) - SFR vs. Build to Rent

(00:17:44) - The state of the new-home market

(00:20:36) - What’s consumer demand looking like?

(00:23:23) - Is there any risk of accelerated institutionalization?

(00:24:28) - Leading indicators for the housing market

(00:28:47) - Thoughts on an impending recession

(00:30:11) - What’s your take on the rising interest rates?

(00:33:27) - How can we truly achieve affordability in housing?

(00:38:41) - What do you predict for the housing market over the next 12 months?

(00:40:49) - How would you advise folks interested in the housing market?

(00:42:25) - John’s Fear and Greed Survey

(00:45:25) - What’s the best way to contact your firm?

In this episode of The Distribution by Juniper Square, Brandon Sedloff sits down with Jeff Giller, Partner and Head of StepStone Real Estate, where he leads the global real estate investment and advisory activities and chairs the real estate investment committees.

During their conversation, the two discuss:

Listen to their full conversation now.

Links:

StepStone Group

Jeff on LinkedIn

Juniper Square

Brandon on LinkedIn

Provide feedback for the podcast

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:39) - Jeff’s career and background

(00:13:21) - How to interact with managers who have not experienced a downturn

(00:18:47) - StepStone’s consulting arm

(00:22:52) - Co-mingling the advising and investment management sides of the business

(00:29:32) - The GP-led secondary space

(00:33:18) - What trends are you seeing from LPs in the market?

(00:42:28) - What advice would you have for folks looking to get the attention of a StepStone?

(00:44:49) - How do you think about forming your thesis?

(00:48:36) - What changes do you anticipate over the next 18 months?

(00:51:01) - What do you predict for the Office?

(00:54:09) - How can people get in touch?

On today’s episode, I sit down with Bert van den Hoek, Senior Portfolio Manager of North America for Bouwinvest Real Estate Investors, whose New York office he opened in 2020. Bouwinvest specializes in managing real estate portfolios for institutional investors and currently manages €15.1 billion in assets across Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific.

During our conversation, Bert and I discussed:

Links:

Bouwinvest

Juniper Square

Brandon on LinkedIn

Provide feedback for the podcast

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:02:08) - Bert’s background and career

(00:09:30) - Bert’s investment philosophy

(00:12:20) - The scale of Bouwinvest

(00:17:00) - Approaching programmatic JVs

(00:18:29) - Profiling a manager to invest with

(00:20:59) - What investment strategies are you focused on today?

(00:23:18) - Investments in Europe, Asia and Australia

(00:26:50) - How did you develop your investment thesis?

(00:29:19) - Do you use consultants in your work?

(00:30:58) - Bert’s acquisition process

(00:33:32) - How to find great managers

(00:35:39) - Expectations of managers

(00:45:24) - What are your predictions for the market over the next 24 months?

(00:49:38) - What advice would you have for investors and managers?

(00:51:48) - How can people contact you?

Sabina Reeves is Chief Economist & Head of Insights & Intelligence for CBRE Investment Management. She is responsible for the firm’s 30-member real assets research team and has a specific role in selecting the economic scenarios and macro risk assessments that power the firm’s proprietary real assets forecasts. In addition, Sabina has executive responsibility for the firm’s 20-member Analytics and Risk Measurement team.

Links:

Sabina on LinkedIn

Sabina on X

CBRE Investment Management

Juniper Square

Provide feedback for the podcast

Brandon on LinkedIn

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:49) - Sabina’s career and background

(00:04:36) - Insights and intelligence at CBRE

(00:06:31) - How AI is impacting their work

(00:08:59) - What are the main themes you’re hearing from clients as it relates to markets?

(00:11:11) - Geopolitical issues having a downstream impact on CRE

(00:15:45) - Demographic shift impacts on CRE

(00:18:57) - The macroeconomic environment in Europe & the United States

(00:27:17) - Predictions for the future

(00:29:15) - Looking back on the real estate environment of previous cycles

(00:32:24) - The impact of GDP growth in the USA

(00:35:55) - Thoughts on US consumer debt

(00:39:50) - Other issues investors and operators should be thinking about

(00:43:43) - Office market fundamentals

(00:51:15) - Trends in US asset classes

(00:56:55) - Thoughts on infrastructure

(01:02:42) - Technology trends for CRE and infrastructure

(01:05:39) - What people need to be asking about right now

(01:07:13) - Where to reach Sabina

In this episode of ​​The Distribution by Juniper Square, Brandon Sedloff spoke with Ilene Goldfine, Chief Digital Strategy Officer at Hines, one of the largest privately held real estate investors and managers in the world. In her role, Ilene is responsible for new digital strategy initiatives throughout the company, using technology and data to empower employees, engage clients and partners, optimize operations and transform their products and services.

During their conversation, the two discussed:

Links:

Ilene on LinkedIn

Hines

Provide feedback for the podcast

Topics:

(00:00:00) Intro

(00:01:44) Ilene’s background and role at Hines

(00:09:26) What does the organization look like today?

(00:10:46) Who is the primary client you build for?

(00:13:41) What makes Hines such a special place?

(00:19:22) Defining Proptech

(00:24:28) What pain points are you trying to solve for the end user?

(00:29:53) What does the infrastructure of a data organization look like?

(00:42:06) How do you think about change management?

(00:49:02) Diversity of Thought

(00:54:42) What are your thoughts on the market?

After 12 years as an operator (Bonobos, TellApart, Floored, CBRE), Dave is now a full-time investor with Zigg, a global investment organization with a singular mission: to accelerate the combination of real estate and technology, improving our collective quality of life, work, and community.

On this episode, Brandon and Dave discuss:

Links:

Zigg Capital

Dave on LinkedIn & Twitter

[email protected]

Juniper Square

Provide feedback for the podcast

Brandon on LinkedIn

Topics:

(00:00:00) Intro

(00:01:27) Dave’s background and Zigg Capital

(00:04:26) - What are some of the big differentiators of the different chapters of your career?

(00:08:30) What was your experience transitioning into entrepreneurship and becoming an operator?

(00:12:17) Zigg Capital

(00:18:22) How do you source deals?

(00:20:05) Where do you think we are in the innovation of real estate technology?

(00:23:03) Where are you seeing the highest level of technology adoption?

(00:24:50) Are there niches where you hope the flywheel will start picking up?

(00:27:42) How would you describe your approach to portfolio construction?

(00:38:14) Where do you think capital will come from for those investing in real estate?

(00:41:18) Why would a company select Zigg for capital?

(00:47:42) What’s your take on AI and where we will be in the next decade from an innovation perspective?

(00:51:32) What must change in order for the industry to achieve the Cambrian explosion?

On today’s episode, I sit down with Taylor Mammen, CEO of RCLCO Fund Advisors (RFA).  RCLCO Fund Advisors (RFA) is a real estate advisory service for institutional investors on all aspects of their complex real estate investment portfolios, from strategy development to underwriting and asset management. Taylor helped pioneer this business beginning in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis, when several prominent pension funds turned to RFA with the goal of constructing better performing and more resilient real estate portfolios, and has grown it to become a highly respected institutional real estate advisor, working with some of the largest and most dynamic institutional investors in the world.…

On today’s podcast, we have a wide-ranging discussion covering how RFA operates as a consultant, the macroeconomy, the role real estate plays, and the importance of operational leverage going forward.

RFA is a data-driven consultant and I enjoyed hearing Taylor’s perspective on investors changing appetite and need for alpha, what to look for in a partner who has a strategic approach to investing along with the importance of communication in managing LP and LP advisor relationships.

Let’s get into it.

Links:

Connect with Taylor

RCLCO Fund Advisors

Connect with Brandon on LinkedIn

Juniper Square

Provide feedback for the podcast

Topics:

(00:01:50) Taylor’s background and RCLCO Fund Advisors

(00:04:00) The role ROLCO plays on behalf of LPs

(00:07:28) How do you compare and contrast your firm with the traditional consulting model?

(00:10:24) What’s the general appetite for US real estate in this economic state?

(00:21:51) What is the RFA view on a potential recession?

(00:25:31) How are you thinking about the future of closed-end fund investing?

(00:34:05) How are you thinking about the performance of niche sectors and their role in portfolio creation for a typical institutional investor?

(00:38:55) What’s your process for Manager selection?

(00:44:00) What can folks do to be different when they meet with consultants or LPs?

(00:48:41) What is important to you once an investment has been made in terms of building relationships with investors?

(00:52:20) Parting advice