How did you get started? Share more about yourself and the environment you grew up in as a child… Tell us about yourself. What’s your background?

I have worked with family offices for the last 25 years, and ever since the early days of the concept. When the concept was still generally unknown and structures were quite informal, I was immersing myself in my work. Throughout the last 10 years, we have witnessed an unprecedented "tectonic" shift in the industry, where family offices are highly structured and capital volumes are massive.  

What was your ah-ha moment that set you on the path you are on today? 

My “ah-ha” moment came through a conversation with a New York City family office highly specialized in real estate development. The office was seeking advice in other asset classes. However, what they considered to be their weakness (no multi-sector knowledge and high specialization), we actually saw as their strength. We continue to co-invest with them to this day. 

Seven years ago, we decided to forego the established model of a traditional multi-family office and specialize, creating a power niche for ourselves to work within. 

Tell us about your company. What services do you provide?

Our company is a 25-year-old multifamily office based in NYC. We work with non-US family investors. Seven years ago, we decided to specialize in a very specific asset class (investing in debt backed by US real estate), which gave us an edge and differentiated us in a highly competitive market, ultimately generating stellar growth to our business. 

What are you working on right now?

We are currently working on expanding our origination of debt backed by US real estate for our investors and co-investors

You started this business in a competitive industry and became successful quickly. What’s your secret to success?

I believe the secret to our success has been through specialization. We created a power niche that truly differentiated us in the market. We now work with several single family and multi-family offices and financial institutions globally that come to us for access to this niche. To separate ourselves from the competition, we became suppliers and partners.  

What is your vision for the future of your industry?

We believe the future of the industry includes specialization of family offices by leveraging their experience and background to offer this specialization to their peers. It creates a highly productive network effect. We initiated this informally through our specialization and it has scaled.