Stefanos is a lead analyst within the Structured Finance Group at Moody’s Investors Service, where he is responsible for primary new issuance ratings on commercial mortgage backed securities. Stefanos is a member of the large loan transaction team with a specific focus on retail, hotel, and multi-family. Additionally, Stefanos takes a lead role on all multi-family credit analysis including all Freddie Mac K-Series transactions. Stefanos is co-leading Moody’s analysis of proposed single family rental securitizations. Before joining Moody’s, Stefanos was a Vice President with BB&T in Washington, DC where he held various positions within the real estate group including: commercial and multi- family originations, single family residential construction and residential mortgage origination, where he was responsible for over $4 billion in originations. Stefanos often guests lectures courses on real estate finance at Georgetown University and George Washington University. Stefanos received a B.S. in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a Master's of Real Estate from Georgetown University. He currently lives in New York City.
Nav Athwal is Co-Founder and CEO of RealtyShares, a leading crowdfunding for real estate platform that has raised debt and equity capital for over 60 real estate properties located across 10 states. Prior to founding RealtyShares, Nav was a real estate and land use attorney at San Francisco based Farella Braun & Martel LLP where he represented developers, fund managers, nonprofits, governmental organizations and REIT's on some of the largest mixed use residential, commercial and renewable energy projects across the country.
Nav was named a 2013 Northern California Rising Star Lawyer, is a lecturer on real estate law and investing at UC Berkeley and graduated from UC Berkeley Law School in 2010 as the Class Valedictorian. Nav is also a thought leader in the Crowdfunding and P2P Lending Space having participated in various panels and public discussions on these topics. Nav has been featured in countless publications including Forbes, WSJ and CNNMoney.
Gary left his co-CEO role at Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust (ticker: SWAY) in April of 2015 to co-found ROOFSTOCK (formerly DwellConnect), a technology-enabled Internet marketplace designed to dramatically improve transactional liquidity in the SFR sector. In 2009 he joined the board of single-family rental (SFR) pioneer Waypoint Homes and began investing in SFR, eventually joining full-time in 2011 to help raise the first significant institutional capital into the sector. In the fall of 2013 Gary helped orchestrate Waypoint’s merger with Starwood Capital Group, forming SWAY and taking the company public on the NYSE in early 2014.
Gary has spent the majority of his career in operationally-intensive and technology-driven companies with a significant real estate component to their businesses. Prior to joining Waypoint, Gary served as CEO of boutique hotel company Joie de Vivre Hospitality and award-winning solar technology start-up Greenvolts. Between 2001 and 2007 Gary was an operating executive with ZipRealty, where as its CFO he led the innovative Internet-based residential brokerage through its successful IPO before eventually being named its President. Gary also spent six years with KSL Resorts where he was instrumental in acquiring and integrating over $800 MM of resort properties. Earlier in his career, Gary worked for leading real estate industry firms LaSalle Partners (now Jones Lang LaSalle) and Security Capital Group.
Gary earned a BA in Economics from Northwestern University and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Carl D. Bell, CFA, is a Deputy Chief Investment Officer, Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager at Amundi Smith Breeden LLC. During his more than two decades as a fixed income investment management professional, Mr. Bell has developed specialized expertise in non-agency residential and commercial mortgage securities and other structured credit instruments.
Mr. Bell has spent more than 15 years as an investor in the mortgage credit markets and he has deep experience managing below investment grade and distressed real estate credit portfolios. Mr. Bell was previously employed by Smith Breeden from 1991 through 1997. During that time he worked on a variety of portfolio management and advisory assignments and served as Smith Breeden’s Director of Research.
In 1998 Mr. Bell joined Putnam Investments, where he was Managing Director and Team Leader for Structured Credit. After leaving Putnam in 2011, Mr. Bell co-founded Five Ten Capital, a real estate investment firm focused on deploying capital into distressed single-family homes through an “REO to Rental” strategy. In 2011, Mr. Bell also joined Smith Breeden’s Board of Directors as an outside director and he accepted his current position as a senior member of Amundi Smith Breeden’s investment team in February 2013.
Mr. Bell obtained an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University where he was a Fuqua Scholar and received the James G. Hanes Scholarship. He holds a BS in Mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University.
Jack has been a Partner at The Dominion Group since 2008. Since joining the firm, he has worked in nearly every aspect of Dominion’s business including acquisitions, construction management, property management, marketing & sales and business development. Jack has overseen nearly 2,000 single family real estate investment deals in the past 7 years. Prior to joining Dominion, Jack worked in the acquisitions group of a commercial real estate firm on large-scale debt and equity transactions. Jack graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Economics and a concentration in Real Estate from the Wharton School, and a B.A. in International Studies with a concentration in Latin American Studies from the College of Arts and Sciences.
Charles R. Brindell, Jr., is Chairman and CEO of Mill Creek Residential Trust LLC. Prior to the founding of Mill Creek Residential Trust, Mr. Brindell was associated with Trammell Crow affiliated entities for 28 years, including the Trammell Crow Company, Crow Holdings, and Trammell Crow Residential where he served as President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Brindell's real estate career also includes three years in commercial mortgage banking at Cameron Brown Company and more than seven years at Southwide Development Company, a Memphis-based real estate management and development firm where he served as Vice President of Finance and President and Chief Operating Officer.
A native of Wilmington, North Carolina, Mr. Brindell is a 1971 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
His professional associations include membership in The Real Estate Roundtable, The Urban Land Institute (MF Blue Council), National Multi-Housing Council (Executive Committee), and NAHB Multifamily Leadership Board (immediate past Chairman).
Mr. Brindell is a Director of Independent Holdings and Independent Bank, a Director of CNL Commercial Real Estate, Inc., a member of the Advisory Board for the Wood Center for Real Estate Development at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC, and a member of the Fisher Center Policy Advisory Board at the University of California at Berkeley.
Mr. Capolongo has over 17 years of commercial and residential real estate experience and is responsible for originating, evaluating, managing and closing opportunistic real estate investments for the fund. Prior to his time at BLT he was Senior Director in GE Capital Real Estate’s Global Investment Management division, where he led investment strategy and business development and was responsible for closing several large investing partnerships, including the Public Private Investment Program with the U.S. Treasury and investing programs with Sovereign Wealth Funds. Prior to that, Chris was a Business Development Director in GE’s $15 billion North America Equity platform and focused on take-privates and opportunistic investments. Prior to joining GE, Chris worked at Deutsche Bank Securities as a Senior REIT Analyst covering publicly traded U.S. property companies. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Chris was a manager at Ernst & Young's Kenneth Leventhal Real Estate Group, where he led the group's real estate due diligence practice, with a focus on property underwriting, securitization and M&A due diligence. Mr. Capolongo graduated with a B.S. in Accounting from Binghamton University.
Oliver is a co-founder and managing director of Sylvan Road Capital, an asset management firm focused on the buy-to-rent market. Oliver is a thought leader on the topic of institutional investments in distressed single family housing, having served both investors and government agencies. His housing research is often cited in the media at outlets including CNBC, NPR, Reuters, Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. Before co-founding Sylvan Road, Oliver served as Morgan Stanley's Head of US Housing Strategy and focused on all aspects of the housing market including home price dynamics, supply and foreclosure issues, demand and mortgage credit concerns, and the relationship between home prices and mortgage performance. Oliver received a BS in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Mr. Charnoff is the founder and CEO of RentRange and Investability, guiding the firm’s vision and strategic plan. He is a serial entrepreneur who has spent the last 20 years developing cutting-edge companies in the securities and real estate technology sectors. Considered one of the foremost subject matter experts in the field of residential investing, he is frequently called upon by mainstream media to provide knowledge in both televised and print form.
Dennis Cisterna III is the Chief Executive Officer of Investability Solutions, an Altisource business unit focused on providing a comprehensive suite of services to the SFR investment sector. He was appointed CEO in July after spending the previous 18 months as the firm's Chief Revenue Officer. Prior to Investability he served as Managing Director of FirstKey Lending, a portfolio company of Cerberus Capital Management.
Dennis, an AmeriCatalyst speaker and host since 2013, has held a wide variety of management positions within the real estate investment sector including key roles at notable firms such as Johnson Capital, Lennar, and Toll Brothers. Throughout his career, he has been completed more than $3 billion worth of real estate transactions across the U.S. and Europe.
A requested speaker at economic and real estate conferences across the nation, Dennis also serves as a contributor for U.S. News & World Report and hosts The Investability podcast. He is a Licensed Real Estate Broker in California and has a B.A. in Political Science from San Diego State University.
Phil Comeau is President and CEO of Phillip E. Comeau Company, Inc. and Synergistic Associates, Inc. He is on the RentRange Board of Directors.
Phil has over 44 years of residential and commercial finance experience. In the 1980’s he was responsible for originating $1.5 billion of innovative multifamily financing. In the early 1990’s he was responsible for managing Freddie Mac’s scattered site multifamily portfolio and REO. Subsequently, he managed Freddie Mac’s non-performing loan portfolio. He has been a pioneering leader in mortgage delinquent loan management, data analytics, performance metrics and risk management. Phil formed his consulting companies in 2004. He has been working with and advising RentRange since 2011.
He received his MBA in Finance and BS in Engineering from Cornell University. He does volunteer work with St. Joseph, the Worker LTD who assists destitute elderly widows in Bosnia/Hercegovina.
Mr. Corrigan is the Chief Operating Officer of American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH). From 2006 to 2011, Mr. Corrigan was the Chief Executive Officer of A & H Property and Investments, a full service leasing and property management company in Los Angeles County with a portfolio of residential, retail, industrial and office properties where he was responsible for acquisitions, dispositions, development, financing and management operations. Mr. Corrigan served as Chief Financial Officer of PS Business Parks Inc. (NYSE: PSB), a publicly-traded REIT specializing in office and industrial properties throughout the United States, from 1998 to 2004.Prior to his tenure at PS Business Parks, Mr. Corrigan was a partner in the accounting firm of LaRue, Corrigan & McCormick where he was responsible for the audit and consulting practice of that firm. Mr. Corrigan started his career at Arthur Young and Company (now a part of Ernst & Young LLP) and also served as Vice President and Controller of Storage Equities, Inc. (a predecessor entity to Public Storage). Mr. Corrigan earned a B.S. in Accounting from Loyola Marymount University.
Renee Deane is Executive Vice President of Property Management for Carrington Property Services, LLC (CPS). Renee manages and directs the growth of Carrington Property Services, while servicing as a key asset for driving the industry-leading national property management company operating in 46 states.
In direct response to the ever-changing conditions in the real estate market, Renee has revolutionized the property management services platform available to all clients – from major institutional clients to long-term hold investor clients, building a rental portfolio. The company’s’ platform is designed to meet a client’s specific needs- whether the full suite of property management services, or a la carte services, such as rent analysis, evictions oversight, or property preservation services. Under Renee’s leadership, CPS has tripled its client base, ad created a platform that can be specifically tailored to each client and their specific needs ad programs. Renee possesses the knowledge and experience required to successfully implement the expansion plans for the company’s rental programs, and is highly qualified to significantly contribute to its business objectives.
A 25-year industry veteran with extensive experience in the financial services industry, Renee has developed and maintained key relationships with global investment banks, GSEs and large institutional investors. She has a proven track record of developing and automating operational efficiencies to achieve positive financial results. Prior to joining Carrington, Renee served as Executive Vice President of Operations/Chief Credit officer for Nations Direct Mortgage, where she was responsible for all areas of origination up to and including ensuring that all loans originated were sold on the secondary market and insured by HUD. Renee has also held various management positions such as EVP, Chief Operating Officer at Agire Mortgage; EVP, Business Controls at Ameriquest Mortgage Company; and EVP, Investor Relations at AMC Capital Corporation.
Chris DiAngelo is managing partner of Katten’s New York office and co-head of the Structured Finance and Securitization practice. He focuses his practice on structured finance and securitization matters.
Chris represents a variety of clients, including issuers, lenders, underwriters and bond insurers, in a wide range of programs and projects involving asset-backed debt, municipal debt, straight corporate debt and equity, warehouse lines, regulatory matters and acquisitions.
Chris’s clients describe him as a “significant market player” and say “He has the ability to zero in on the legal and business issues, explain them and then find an appropriate solution,” according to Chambers USA. Throughout the last decade, he has developed a strong knowledge of housing and mortgage policy reform—including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reform—a topic on which he is a frequent speaker. Chris has also spoken on the impact of the Dodd-Frank Act on structured finance.
He is a lead counsel to the Structured Finance Industry Group and outside counsel to a Washington, DC lobbying firm concentrating in financial services matters. Chris has testified before the US House Committee on Financial Services on the issues confronting the commercial real estate market, and frequently appears and provides commentary at industry forums on financial and regulatory matters. He has been recognized in the media as a leader in the field of capital markets and securitization.
Prior to entering private practice, he was on the staff of the New York State Housing Finance Agency, a prominent municipal issuer.
Sean Dobson is Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Amherst Holdings, an investment services holding company which controls several companies dedicated to the U.S. real estate finance industry. Amherst is widely known for their data and analytics and one of the few residential mortgage specialists to anticipate the 2008 mortgage crisis. Mr. Dobson has over 25 years of experience in the mortgage industry, including origination, banking, brokerage, and asset management. Mr. Dobson served as a board member of the Structured Finance Industry Group, is a Co-Founder of CapCityKids in Austin, Texas and serves as a Governing Trustee for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. He lives with his wife and two children in Austin, Texas
Todd is a managing director in the Real Estate Department in the Investment Banking Division, where he advises public and private real estate and hotel companies on mergers and acquisitions and financing opportunities.
Todd joined Goldman Sachs in the Real Estate Department as a financial analyst in 1990. He worked in the department for three years and then attended business school. Upon graduation, Todd rejoined the Real Estate Department as an associate and after four years in New York, relocated to London, where he became a vice president and headed European Real Estate Investment Banking for four years.
Todd subsequently returned to New York to the Real Estate Department and worked for one year in the real estate CMBS joint venture between Investment Banking and Fixed Income. He left the firm in 2005 to pursue two real estate principal investment opportunities and rejoined in 2006 as a managing director in the Real Estate Department.
Todd is a member of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI).
Todd earned an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1995 and an AB from Dartmouth College in 1990.
Jonathan Ellenzweig is responsible for overseeing Tricon’s single-family rental business (Tricon American Homes) and is involved in all aspects of strategic decision making for the business segment, including acquisitions, financing and ongoing operations.
Prior to joining Tricon in 2005, Mr. Ellenzweig was an investment banking analyst for Citigroup Global Markets, working in both the New York and Toronto offices, where he was a member of the coverage and transaction execution teams for financial services and media / telecom companies.
Mr. Ellenzweig graduated from Queen's University with an Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree and was awarded First Class Honours.
Evan Firestone is a consultant in the ABS and MBS markets and works in a business development capacity with CoreLogic. Mr. Firestone founded Firestone Consulting in 2001 to provide analytical services to institutions involved in the mortgage- and asset-backed markets. Since that time, he has worked with over 70 companies including money managers, hedge funds, insurance companies, rating agencies, bond insurers, Investment Banks, mortgage originators, other consulting companies, technology providers and data providers.
Prior to founding Firestone Consulting, Mr. Firestone was a Managing Director at Merrill Lynch where he was responsible for quantitative analysis and the modeling of prepayments and defaults on a wide variety of asset types. Prior to his tenure at Merrill Lynch, Mr. Firestone managed the Mortgage Research departments at Credit Suisse First Boston and Greenwich Capital Markets.
Mr. Firestone has spent over 30 years analyzing the mortgage- and asset-backed markets and developing standards for the benefit of all of its participants. Mr. Firestone co-authored the seminal article which defined conditional prepayment rate (CPR) and applied it to the task of determining value in the secondary mortgage market. Mr. Firestone also developed PSA Standard Formulas and participated in Project RESTART from the American Securitization Forum.
Mr. Firestone is a past Chairman of the Mortgage Division of the Bond Market Association (now part of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association) as well as a Chairman of both the Mortgage Research and Mortgage Trading Practices Committees. In 1999, The Bond Market Association awarded Evan its Chairman's Achievement Award for distinguished service to the Fixed Income Markets.
Evan graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a major in Economics and a minor in Computer Science.
A recovering investment banker, Rich deserves the Single-Family Rental Lifetime Achievement Award... for being one of the first to embrace the Single-Family Rental sector as an institutional asset class during his time at Jefferies. Having previously spent time at Lehman and Bank of America, Rich is embracing startup life and only wonders why he waited this long to dive in! Being Canadian, of course Rich put himself through college rappelling out of helicopters to fight forest fires. Don’t they all?
Patrick is a founding principal of North Point Investments. He has participated as developer or broker in over $1.5 Billion in real estate transactions. Since August 2009, Patrick has been responsible for the acquisition, disposition, and renovation of 20 properties purchased at the trustee sales. Patrick is partnered with two high net worth individuals and has generated substantial returns in this most recent venture. Patrick established reporting, selection, and renovation criteria that will be used in the future investments of North Point Investments. Prior to founding North Point Investments, Patrick was the managing partner of Brierley Group which owned and operated BFM Realty Group, a residential real estate brokerage company with over $2M in annual revenue and Brierley Investments which developed over $50M in exit value residential real estate. Brierley additionally was a managing partner in five development projects with total estimated market value of $160M. Prior to the founding of Brierley Group, Patrick successfully managed Chrysler’s real estate portfolio, which covered 123 million SF of leased and owned space. Bringing his strategic vision and skills as a lead negotiator, he created savings of over $130M over 3 years to the company’s bottom line. Patrick has a B.A. from Boston College, with a double major in Political Science and Economics; a background that perfectly prepared him for the complexities of real estate development.
Todd Gorelick is Managing Partner of Gorelick Brothers Capital, an alternative investment management company that operates hedge fund, mortgage strategy, and single family rental partnerships.
Previously, Mr. Gorelick founded Atlantic Assurance Group, a nationwide provider of title insurance, valuation and settlement services, and he was controlling principal of Atlantic Title Insurance Company, a multi-state title insurance underwriter. Earlier in his career, Mr. Gorelick worked as a real estate investment banker, and he founded a home equity mortgage business.
Mr. Gorelick is a resident of Charlotte, North Carolina and a graduate of Princeton University.
Laurie Hawkes is the former co-founder of American Residential Properties, which is one of the top-five fastest-growing companies in the housing industry. In the past year, she has taken ARPI public as a REIT, and overseen its first rental-backed securitization, backed by 2,876 single-family homes in the company’s portfolio. Ms. Hawkes co-founded the Phoenix Fund and ARM in early 2010, as well as ARP LLC in October 2008. From 1995 to 2007 Ms. Hawkes worked at U.S. Realty Advisors, a $3 billion real estate private equity firm, becoming a Partner in 1997 and serving as President of the firm from 2003 to 2007. In the seventeen years prior to joining U.S. Realty Advisors, Ms. Hawkes was a Wall Street investment banker specializing in real estate and mortgage finance. From 1993 to 1995, Ms. Hawkes was a Managing Director in the Real Estate Investment Banking Division at CS First Boston Corp., and from 1979 to 1993 was a Director in the Real Estate Investment and Mortgage Banking Departments at Salomon Brothers Inc. During her investment banking career, she structured and negotiated more than $16 billion in real estate acquisitions and securitized mortgage debt transactions for all property types utilizing many types of financing, including private equity, capital markets financial institutions and institutional investors. She holds a BA Degree from Bowdoin College and an MBA from Cornell University.
Jilliene is the CEO and Founder of Realty Mogul. She is responsible for strategic direction, operations and sits on Realty Mogul’s Board of Directors and Investment Committee. Jilliene has underwritten over $5 billion of real estate and was previously a Vice President at Union Bank, where she spent time in Wealth Management, Finance and Risk Management. Jilliene is a Certified Wealth Strategist®, holds Series 7 and Series 63 licenses and has a degree in Business from Georgetown University.
Buck Horne joined Raymond James Equity Research in 1999 and has been a research analyst since 2004. He has covered sectors in the business & industrial services and consumer industries as both a research associate and research analyst since joining Raymond James, and began covering the housing sector, in addition to select REITs, in 2007. Mr. Horne has been recognized seven times in the StarMine Top Analyst survey and has also been recognized in The Wall Street Journal Best on the Street survey. In addition, he has been regular guest on CNBC offering insight into the housing sector, and has also been widely quoted in major media outlets such as Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Horne earned a B.S. degree in business administration from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has been a CFA charterholder since 2003.
Jed Kolko, Chief Economist and VP of Analytics, oversees Trulia's research programs. Applying a background in economic development and research methods, he transforms real estate data, economic trends, and public policy debate into digestible insights for home buyers, sellers and renters. In Jed's prior role as Associate Director and Research Fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California, he led research projects and advised policymakers and business leaders on economic, housing and technology policies. Before his work at PPIC, Jed directed Forrester Research's consumer-technology market research, advising corporate executives on technology adoption and demand. Jed has also held positions at the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (now FHFA), the World Bank and the Progressive Policy Institute. Jed earned his A.B. in social studies and his Ph.D. in economics at Harvard University. Visit him at www.jedkolko.org, www.trulia.com/trends, and @jedkolko.
Ms. Laing has is the Chief Financial Officer of American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH). Ms. Laing served as Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary of Thomas Properties Group, Inc., a publicly-traded real estate operating company, from its initial public offering in 2004 through its merger into Parkway Properties, Inc. in 2013. At Thomas Properties Group, she was responsible for corporate finance, accounting and financial reporting, budgeting and forecasting, and information technology. Ms. Laing’s prior career includes having served as Chief Financial Officer for Arden Realty, Inc. from its public offering in 1996 to 2000, where she oversaw the finance, accounting and reporting functions during a period when the company increased the size of its portfolio by over fivefold. From 1982 to 1996, Ms. Laing served as Controller and Treasurer, then Chief Financial Officer for Southwest Property Trust, Inc., a publicly-traded real estate investment trust investing in multifamily residential properties. Since 2003, Ms. Laing has been a member of the Board of Directors of The Macerich Company, a publicly-traded real estate investment trust that owns shopping malls nationally. She serves as the chair of the Audit Committee and is a member of the Compensation Committee. Ms. Laing also actively serves on three Advisory Boards at Oklahoma State University, to: the Dean of the Spears School of Business, the Chair of the Accounting Department, and the Oklahoma State University Foundation. Ms. Laing started her career with Arthur Andersen & Co. She earned a B.S. in accounting from Oklahoma State University and is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive) in Texas.
Richard has over 30 years of experience in mortgage banking and property management including managing all aspects of mortgage banking including originations, servicing, and secondary marketing. His prior experience includes SVP of Executive Administration for Lomas Mortgage USA, President of Winstar Mortgage Partners, and 11 years with Guaranty Residential Lending ,a top 25 mortgage operation, as Chief Operating Officer. His accomplishments include operating a $10 billion a year origination and 100,000 loan servicing platform, extensive M&A experience, development of several asset or investment M&A structures, and management of multiple conduits and national operational platforms including property management. Richard received his BS from the School of Communications at The University of Texas in Austin, Texas.
Susan is the head of the Residential Finance with over 27 years of experience in providing Citi’s clients expertise in all matters related to the financing and securitization of residential mortgages and other residential assets traded by Citi Global Markets. She delivers the resources of Citi to clients by understanding their needs, objectives and constraints. Through Susan’s leadership, Citi structures both term and permanent financing solutions to institutional clients collateralized by Agency, Non Agency, Jumbo, Mortgage Servicing Rights and Single Family Rental product. Susan received her BS in Accounting from Long Island University.
Toni Moss is the founder, curator and CEO of AmeriCatalyst LLC and EuroCatalyst BV, “sister” advisory firms with specialized services for investors and companies engaged in housing finance and Single Family Rental (SFR). She is also Chairman of the Board of The AmeriCatalyst Idea Lab, a non-profit which generates viable ideas to stabilize and sustain the housing market. Toni is a unique force in housing and real estate; with an entrepreneurial background in corporate intelligence, strategy, market positioning and trend forecasting, she is both a catalyst and connector to move agendas forward. With hands-on operational and senior management experience in 21 national mortgage markets around the world, Toni is one of few experts with a truly global perspective on the industry.
Frequently among the first to identify significant trends and articulate their impact, she is known for calling a series of international government meetings and giving industry-wide presentations and interviews (beginning in 2001) to draw attention to the role of international housing finance and investment as “the epicenter of the global economic fault line.” She believed that this role, in combination with over-leverage and the accelerating forces of globalization were likely to cause an unprecedented global economic fracture.
To amplify her efforts, the following year (in 2002) Toni launched the revolutionary annual EuroCatalyst conference series to share research, observations and ideas among the most respected peers in global housing finance. Today, the series continues as the AmeriCatalyst conference in Austin (Texas), which acts as a collaborative think tank to discuss current issues in housing finance and SFR in the context of globalization and generate innovative ideas across the housing finance and rental lifecycle. Renowned for its unparalleled content and powerhouse of participants, the event is considered the most influential and intellectually challenging conference experience in the industry.
Dowell Myers is a professor in the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. He is an urban demographer specializing in housing who integrates demographic and economic data from censuses, surveys, opinion polls, and projections. Myers has directed a series of projections on the changing generational futures of the United States and California. These highlight the surging number of seniors, the slackening growth of middle-aged consumers, the rising millennials, and the growing contributions of immigrant generations. Myers recently completed a major study (with John Pitkin) for the Mortgage Bankers Association of the growing immigrant contribution in the housing market. He also is the co-author of “Aging Baby Boomers and the Generational Housing Bubble” and “Demographic Forces and Turning Points in the American City.” Myers holds graduate degrees from UC-Berkeley and M.I.T.
His website can be found at www-bcf.usc.edu/~dowell/home.html.
Elizabeth A. O'Brien serves as Chief Executive Officer and President of Colony American Finance. Prior to joining, Ms. O'Brien was Executive Vice President at Auction.com, where she ran its residential capital markets division and set the financing strategy for the platform. In that capacity she managed over two billion dollars of single-family and multi-family loan sales and multiple financing partners. She also founded a proprietary private money lender geared at the investor market as President of AuctionFinance.com. Ms. O'Brien held prior positions at Citigroup Global Markets Inc. in Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Trading and Securitization, Goldman Sachs & Co. as Chief Administrative Officer for the Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds and as an Associate at Latham & Watkins LLP. Combined, Ms. O'Brien has over 20 years' experience in the mortgage market as both a principal and an advisor. Ms. O'Brien was named a 2014 Woman of Influence in Housing by Housingwire magazine. Ms. O'Brien received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Rick is Director of Research at John Burns Real Estate Consulting, an independent research provider and consulting firm focused on the housing industry. With more than 10 years of experience in residential real estate and economic research, Rick oversees all research pertaining to the single-family for sale/rent, multifamily and building product sectors.
Previously, Rick worked as an Equity Research Associate covering the homebuilding space at Morgan Stanley in New York. In addition, he spent several years as an Analyst at the Milken Institute, an economic think tank located in Santa Monica, California. Rick is regularly quoted in local news publications as well as major outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek, CNBC, CNN, MSNBC, and Professional Builder.
Palacios holds a Master of Science (MS) in Real Estate Economics and Finance from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) from the University of California, Irvine.
Michele Patterson is a Senior Director the RMBS group at Kroll Bond Rating Agency, Inc. Michele has 13 years of experience in structured finance as a rating agency analyst. Prior to joining Kroll, Michele was a Senior Director of U.S. RMBS at Fitch Ratings where she spent time on both new issue ratings and surveillance. Michele has a BA in Economics from Binghamton University and an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business.
Jade Rahmani is a research analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, an investment bank specializing in the financial services sector. He is the lead analyst covering the Commercial Mortgage REITs, Commercial Real Estate Brokers, U.S. Homebuilders, and Single-Family Rental REITs. Prior to joining KBW in 2007, Rahmani was an equity analyst at Prudential Financial covering industrial companies including aerospace and defense. He previously spent several years at UBS in product management and marketing roles. Rahmani holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from New York University's Leonard N. Stern School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Yanir Ram is an owner and Chief Financial Officer of DRI Holdings, an owner and manager of over 420 single family residences since December 2006. Prior to his position with DRI Holdings, he was an owner of The 7 Sigma Group LLC, also a real estate holdings company with 64 single family residences. Prior to his position with The 7 Sigma Group LLC, he was Director of Marketing and Business Development for RightOrder, a data management high-tech startup. Prior to that role, Yanir was Director of Operations for Tefen, an Operations Management consulting firm.
Yanir is also a founder and CEO of Precise Real Estate Solutions, a technology company providing document and loan life-cycle management solutions to lenders in the SFR realm.
Yanir holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and an MBA from the Haas School of Business, U.C. Berkeley. He has served as a board member and advisor for several startup companies.
Randy Reiff joined FirstKey as Chief Executive Officer in October, 2013. Previously, he headed the global CMBS and Commercial Mortgage Finance business for Macquarie’s Fixed Income Division. Prior to joining Macquarie, Mr. Reiff served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Spartan Real Estate Capital, LLC – an opportunistic commercial real estate mortgage/CMBS investment and advisory company. In July, 2010 Mr. Reiff and his team at Spartan were folded into Macquarie in order to launch the firms foray into the commercial mortgage arena. Prior to resigning in 2009 to launch Spartan, Mr. Reiff was the head of the Global Commercial Mortgage business for J.P. Morgan, with oversight for all Commercial Mortgage/CMBS origination and trading activities. Mr. Reiff assumed these responsibilities in 2008 following J.P. Morgan’s acquisition of Bear Stearns, where he was a Senior Managing Director and global co-head of the CRE finance/CMBS group. His group’s responsibilities included origination, underwriting, pricing, structuring, hedging and trading for all commercial mortgage balance sheet and securitized products including whole loans, real estate equity, principal and agent CMBS transactions, cdo’s and warehouse finance. Prior to joining Bear Stearns, Mr. Reiff was employed with Citicorp Securities secondary mortgage finance division where he was responsible for distressed asset management and trading. Previously, he worked as Associate Director of the distressed asset management division of Robert Martin Co. Mr. Reiff holds a B.A. from New York University.
Mr. Singelyn is the Chief Executive Officer of American Homes 4 Rent (NYSE: AMH). From 2003 through April 2013, Mr. Singelyn was Chairman and President of Public Storage Canada, a real estate company previously listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, where he built a management team that restructured the operations of the company, including building an operations team and installing accounting and operating computer systems. In 2010, Mr. Singelyn facilitated the restructuring of the ownership entity that was traded on the Toronto stock exchange resulting in the company “going private.” In 2005, Mr. Singelyn, along with Mr. Hughes, founded ACE, and he now serves as a co-manager of ACE. Mr. Singelyn is also a director of the William Lawrence and Blanche Hughes Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to research of pediatric cancer. Mr. Singelyn served as the Treasurer for Public Storage (NYSE:PSA), from 1989 through 2003, where he was responsible for equity capital raising, debt issuances, corporate cash management and financial management for Public Storage and its subsidiary operations. During his tenure, and with his direct involvement, Public Storage raised funds through the public and institutional marketplaces, including from a number of state pensions.
Mr. Singelyn started his career at Arthur Young and Company (now a part of Ernst & Young LLP) and also served as Controller of Winchell’s Donut Houses where he was responsible for all accounting functions. Mr. Singelyn earned a B.S. in Accounting and a B.S. in Computer Information Systems from California Polytechnic University - Pomona.
Haendel St. Juste is a Senior Analyst on the Morgan Stanley REITS team, covering the Residential, Retailand Health Care subsectors. In the decade prior to joining Morgan Stanley, he worked as a REIT equity analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Green Street Advisors, and Bear Stearns, where he concentrated on residential REITs. Before that, Haendel worked in the Real Estate investment banking department at UBS Warburg. Haendel has an MBA from NYU.
Ryan has been in the Structured Credit Group at Deutsche Bank for 14 years with management duties including overseeing all aspects of the residential and small balance commercial mortgage business including term securitizations, warehouse lending, M&A and advisory assignments, distressed whole loan purchases and derivative sales for the United States and Canada. He has particular expertise in the non-agency and sub/non-performing/REO sectors and has clients ranging from the US government to specialty finance companies, REITÕs, hedge funds, private equity firms and large banks. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Ryan worked for 2 years at PaineWebber in the Municipal Securities Group focusing on project finance backed debt transactions.
Steve Stelmach is a senior analyst and senior vice president in the financial services group at FBR Capital Markets & Co. With more than a decade of sell-side equity research experience, Mr. Stelmach has covered a broad array of companies and sectors throughout the financial services and housing industries. Currently, Mr. Stelmach concentrates his research efforts on homebuilders, mortgage & title insurance, and broker/dealers. Most recently, Mr. Stelmach has led FBR’s research efforts in the single-family rental sector. In previous roles at FBR, Mr. Stelmach has supported research coverage of the government-sponsored entities, mortgage banking companies, small- and large-cap thrifts, and community banks.
In 2013, Mr. Stelmach was recognized in The Wall Street Journal’s Best on the Street awards as the No. 2−ranked equity analyst overall in the U.S. and No. 1 analyst in the homebuilding and home furnishings sector. Mr. Stelmach has also had the honor of testifying before the United States House of Representatives regarding U.S. housing policy, as well as advising a number of government agencies on policies and regulations affecting both housing and capital markets.
Prior to joining FBR in August 2003, Mr. Stelmach worked on the U.S. bank research team at UBS Securities LLC helping to cover mid- and large-cap banks. Before UBS Securities, Mr. Stelmach was employed as a research analyst at Thomson Financial, providing third-party research to buy-side investors.
Mr. Stelmach received his B.S. in finance from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Mr. Tennyson is President of Clayton Holdings LLC and is responsible for the overall operating results of the company’s business lines. Mr. Tennyson joined Clayton in February 2015 as Chief Operating Officer.
Mr. Tennyson is the former Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer of B2R Finance, L.P. B2R (a Blackstone Group sponsored company) is a specialty finance start-up company dedicated to providing innovative mortgage financing for owner/operators of single family residential rental properties. Prior to B2R, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Lending Group and Managing Director of Strategic Growth Bank (“SGB”). Mr. Tennyson was responsible for the leadership and direction of the residential mortgage enterprise at SGB. Prior to joining SGB, Tennyson, was the Chief Executive Officer of Charlotte, NC based EquiFirst Corporation (a Barclays subsidiary) in addition to being a Managing Director of Barclays Capital. EquiFirst was a national non-agency mortgage lender and under Jeff’s leadership, EquiFirst grew from start-up to being a top 15 national lender with over 1,400 employees and originating over $12 billion annually in residential mortgage production.
Mr. Tennyson is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a business degree from Harding University and an MBA from Harvard Business School
Gregor Watson, Co-founder of Dwell Finance. Dwell Finance is a nationwide lender that provides both bridge and term loans with a focus on single family investor loans. Watson is also the founder and Chief Investment Officer of 643 Capital Management, where he developed and managed 643’s equity and debt platforms. Throughout his career, Watson has invested in and managed over $600MM of single family rental properties. Prior to founding 643 Capital Management, Watson was a founding member of McKinley Capital Partners and acted as the portfolio manager for the distressed housing platforms and debt funds. In 2009, while at MCP, Watson invested in over 2,500 residential lots. He also led the acquisitions of its value-add multi-family properties. Before McKinley Capital Partners, Watson co-founded ADD Ventures Inc., a real estate group involved in residential land sales and development throughout California with a focus on golf course related projects. Watson is also the founder of Yellow Door Realty, a brokerage and property management company with operations throughout the San Francisco Bay Area since 2008. He is a former board member of the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation, a non-profit developer that owns and manages over 25 apartment buildings throughout San Francisco. Watson received a BA from Regis University in Denver, Colorado.
Colin Wiel is Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Waypoint Homes, a pioneer in single-family rental, with over $1 billion of assets under management. Colin is responsible for strategy, acquisitions, technology, and overall leadership of the firm. Waypoint’s mission is to reinvent the single-family rental experience. Waypoint Homes recently announced a merger with a spinout from Starwood Capital Group, to be named Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust.
Colin has a unique 20-year career with a highly successful track record as engineer, entrepreneur, and investor. He has designed and developed notable software systems, founded several successful companies, and managed highly profitable investment entities focused on public companies, startups, and real estate.
As a Mechanical Engineer out of U.C. Berkeley, Colin worked in a prestigious research group at Boeing, where he invented a new anti-lock braking system for commercial aircraft (two US patents issued), which allows airplanes to stop in a five percent shorter stopping distance on icy runways. In the ‘90’s, Colin founded a software engineering firm, Milo.com, focused on ecommerce software, which he grew to 35 people before selling to a larger technology company. Milo.com co-architected Charles Schwab’s online trading website in 1999, which, at the time, was the largest ecommerce website (by dollar volume) in the world.
