• Peter J. Sotoloff, Principal, THE BLACKSTONE GROUP

Peter Sotoloff is a Principal of Blackstone Real Estate Special Situations Advisors. He is based in New York.

Prior to joining Blackstone, Mr. Sotoloff was a Principal at Tribeca Associates, an institutionally capitalized owner, operator and developer in New York City. Mr. Sotoloff oversaw the acquisition, financing and development of largescale office, lodging, for-sale residential and mixed-use assets and portfolios.

Prior to that, Mr. Sotoloff oversaw US financing, nonperforming loan acquisition and global currency and interest rate risk management strategies for the Morgan Stanley RealEstate Funds, a series of global opportunity funds. In addition, Mr. Sotoloff was involved with the management of the Morgan Stanley Real Estate Special Situations Fund investment program. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Mr. Sotoloff was with Goldman Sachs' Whitehall Funds, a global real estate opportunity fund sponsor.

Mr. Sotoloff has been involved in analyzing and structuring acquisitions and financing for numerous real estate investments across all property types and geographies.

Mr. Sotoloff graduated with highest honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a BS in Finance with concentrations in Finance, Real Estate Finance and Management, and completed the International Business Strategies Program at the London School of Economics. Mr. Sotoloff is a member of the Real Estate Board of New York, the Urban Land Institute, the Commercial Mortgage Securities Association and the International Council of Shopping Centers.

• Dr. Sam Chandan, Chief Economist and Senior Vice President, REIS

Dr. Sam Chaandan is Chieef Economist and Senior VVice Presidennt at Reis (NAASDAQ: REIS). Dr. Chandan and the team of Reis economists are responssible for the firm's markeet forecasting, valuation, risk, and anallytical producct developmeent; economi c, regulatory, credit, and capital markets researcch; CMBS annd securitized debt market surveillancee; and, real esstate portfol io analytics seervices.

A leading authority onn the econoomics of co mmercial annd residential real estate, Dr. Chandaan’s commenntary on re al estate markkets, the econnomy, and caapital and creedit markets is featured in national and global print publications,, on radio, annd on televisioon. Dr. Chanddan’s analysiss of market cconditions haas appeared inn the Wall Sttreet Journa l, the Financ ial Times, annd the New Yo rk Times, in BBusinessWeek and Forbes, on CNBC, thhe Fox Busineess Network, CNN, MSNBBC, Bloombeerg Television, Reuters, annd Nightly Buusiness Repoort, and on NNational Publ ic Radio and PPublic Radio I nternational.

Dr. Chandaan is a memmber of num erous acadeemic societie s, including thhe Econome tric Society and the Rooyal Econom ic Society. Hiss ongoing acaademic reseaarch is focuseed on housinng policy, pub lic finance, and the cappitalization oof local publ ic amenities in house pprices. Amonng Dr. Chaandan’s otheer academic commitments, he has servved as a pee r reviewer foor the Harvardd Business Scchool Press.

Named onee of the indu stry’s most influential peeople by Mullti Housing Neews magazinee, Dr. Chandaan is a regu lar speaker aat industry evvents, client meetings, annd academicc conference s, and is a ccontributing author to tthe industry’’s preeminennt publicationss. Recent speaking enggagements hhave includeed keynote addresses, pannels, and spe eches for thhe Real Estatte Roundtable (RER), the UUrban Land Innstitute (ULI)), the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF), thhe Commercia l Mortgage SSecurities As sociation (CMMSA), and thhe Mortgage BBankers Ass ociation (MBBA), as well as academ ic presentations for the American Real Estatee and Urbaan Economics AAssociation (AREUEA).

Dr. Chandaan holds the PhD in Appplied Econommics from thhe Wharton Scchool of the University oof Pennsylva nia. He was a Doctoral Sccholar in thee Economics Departmentt at Princetoon University. In addition to the PhD, DDr. Chandan holds a MA iin Economics, aMSc in Enggineering, andd a BSc in Ecconomics witth concentrati ons in Finan ce and Publiic Policy. Dr. Chandan haas taught micrroeconomic t heory at the Wharton Schhool and was a visiting proffessor on thee faculty of tthe Economiccs Departmennt at Dartmoutth College.

• Ben Fanger, Co-Founder and Managing Director, SHORELINE CAPITAL

Mr. Fanger is a co-founder and managing director at Shoreline Capital, which manages investments in distressed assets in China. He oversees much of the firm’s sourcing and exits. In this capacity, Mr. Fanger is involved in the pricing, bidding, litigation, negotiations, liquidations and restructurings involved in acquiring and disposing distressed debt in China.  Prior to Shoreline Capital, Mr. Fanger was a founding member in the start-up and exits of several firms, with the majority of his career being China-focused. He has done work on Chinese non-performing loan and private equity transactions with the field’s leading team of attorneys. Mr. Fanger has been fluent in spoken and written Chinese for over ten years. He also holds a JD and MBA from the University of Chicago and is a licensed attorney in the State of California.

Shoreline Capital is a private fund manager specializing in finding and creating value in distressed assets in China. It currently manages approximately $250 million in acquired assets and committed capital.  Shoreline has three offices in China and over thirty professionals.

• Sri Sambamurthy, Managing Director, STARWOOD CAPITAL GROUP

SRI SAMBAMURTHY is a Managing Director of Starwood Capital focused on global investments in operating and entity level platforms in the real estate, hospitality and leisure sectors. Prior to joining Starwood Capital, Mr. Sambamurthy was a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank Securities in the real estate investment banking department and an Executive Director in the real estate investment banking group at Morgan Stanley. During his tenures at Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley, Mr. Sambamurthy was involved in several high profile merger, recapitalizations, cross-border transactions and debt and equity financings in the lodging and real estate industry.

• Alexander G. Hesterberg, Managing Director, Credit Risk Management - Real Estate Valuation DEUTSCHE BANK

Alexander G. Hesterberg was appointed Chief Appraiser of Bankers Trust Company in July of 1988 following a 13-year career at Chase Manhattan Bank where he was Regional Vice President in charge of all appraisals performed in the western United States and Puerto Rico. Mr. Hesterberg is responsible for real estate appraisals, consultations and advisory assignments commissioned for Deutsche Bank. He and his team have performed and directed property due diligence and valuation on literally billions of dollars of real estate in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Asia

Mr. Hesterberg is a currently certified Member of the Appraisal Institute (MAI) a Counselor of Real Estate (CRE) and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS). He is a New York State Certified General Real Estate Appraiser, a member of the Real Estate Board of New York, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), the Appraisal Institute's National Client Services Committee (Vice Chair) and the Appraisal Advisory Council to New York University. He is a past President of the Metropolitan New York Chapter of the Appraisal Institute. Mr. Hesterberg received a B.A. degree in Economics from Georgetown University .

• Lawrence D. Ellman, Managing Director, Head of Investments North America, CITI PROPERTY INVESTORS

Larry Ellman is a Managing Director and the Head of Citi Property Investors' North America opportunity fund business, based in New York. Mr. Ellman has over 20 years of experience in the real estate fund and investment advisory business. Prior to joining CPI, Mr. Ellman was Managing Director at J.P. Morgan Investment Management, where he served as the Head of Acquisitions over a $2 billion annual investment program. Before joining J.P. Morgan, Mr. Ellman was an investment officer with the J.W. O'Connor Group in New York City. Mr. Ellman holds an M.S. in Real Estate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.S. from the University of Southern California.

• Ulrich Dischler, Director, Real Estate International, CREDIT SUISSE

• John I. Bralower, Managing Director, THE CARLTON GROUP

Mr. Bralower is president of Carlton Hospitality Group and managing director of The Carlton Group. During his career, Mr. Bralower has completed over $20 billion of debt, equity, corporate finance, M & A, advisory and leasing transactions for many of the real estate and hospitality industry's leading companies. These have included properties and firms located in the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Recent transactions include the placement of $350 million of senior and mezzanine construction debt for Trump Soho, a 400 key Manhattan condo-hotel, the $840 million equity and debt capitalization for the acquisition and conversion of Manhattan House, the largest single asset residential transaction in history and the $240 million equity and debt capitalization for the acquisition and re-branding of the Wyndham (now Westin) Aruba.

Mr. Bralower's positions prior to joining Carlton include managing director and co-head of global real estate investment banking at Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin, and president of Sonnenblick-Goldman Company.

Mr. Bralower has been quoted and featured in industry and mainstream publications, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The New York Sun and the New York Observer. His speaking engagements have included the New York University and ALIS hotel investment conferences, the NYU Real Estate finance conference and the IH&RA Annual Congress in London as well as conferences organized by Commercial Property News, RealShare and Information Management Network. Grid magazine ranked him in the top ten on its POWERgrid of real estate bankers and brokers.

Mr. Bralower is an advisory board member of the Lincoln Center Realty and Construction Council and the Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism, and Sports Management at New York University. He is also a full member of the Urban Land Institute and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.. Mr. Bralower serves as chairman of the Village of Oyster Bay Cove Planning Board, is a founding director of the North Shore Land Alliance and is a founding investor of StarMine Corp. (2004, 2005 and 2006 INC. 500 fastest growing companies). He is a member of the New York State Bar.

• Jeffrey Barclay, Managing Director, ING CLARION

Jeffrey A. Barclay is Managing Director and head of acquisitions at ING Clarion Partners, a real estate investment management firm with $25 billion in assets invested through both funds and institutional separate accounts.  ING Clarion Partners is part of ING Real Estate, one of the world’s largest real estate investment managers.

Mr. Barclay directs the firm’s private investment activity throughout the United States and Mexico, including investments in office, retail, apartment, industrial and storage properties.  This activity includes operating properties as well as ground-up developments and re-development.  Mr. Barclay serves on the firm’s Executive, Operating and Investment Committees.

Prior to joining ING Clarion, Mr. Barclay was a partner at Hamilton Securities, a Washington, DC–based investment bank.  From 1989 to 1992 he was responsible for investment sales at Jones Lang LaSalle.  He began his real estate investment career in 1983 at the Lawrence Ruben Company, a private development and investment company.  Mr. Barclay also worked in the real estate department of Chemical Bank and in the Equity Research group at CS First Boston.

Mr. Barclay currently serves as Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business, where he earned his MBA in Finance and Accounting.  He served as adjunct professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business from 1996 through 2001.
Mr. Barclay is chairman of the Institute Committee of the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA).  He is a member of the board of directors of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers (NAREIM) and vice chairman of the Industrial and Office Product Council of the Urban Land Institute (ULI). 

• Ed Carey, Managing Director, ING CLARION

Mr. Carey is a Managing Director with ING Clarion Partners and is responsible for strategic acquisitions, with a primary focus on identifying and developing structured programmatic joint ventures, large, national and cross border platform acquisitions and public to private opportunities. He joined ING Clarion in 2007 and has 23 years of real estate experience. Ed came to ING Clarion from Deutsche Bank Securities, where he was responsible for the US Real Estate Investment Banking practice. Previously, over a 20 year investment banking career, he had worked at Salomon Brothers, Salomon/Smith Barney and CIBC World Markets. Ed has an MBA from Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania and a BBA from the University of Notre Dame.

• Thomas B. Deane, Managing Director, Head of Structured Transactions & Special Assets WACHOVIA SECURITIES - REAL ESTATE ASSET MANAGEMENT

Thomas Deane is the head of the Structured Transactions and Special Assets group in Wachovia’s Real Estate Asset Management division.  Mr. Deane’s group is responsible for Wachovia’s balance sheet structured finance portfolio, CMBS and GSE Special Servicing, repurchase/warehouse financing surveillance, workout of tax credit investments and other areas of retained risk in the Real Estate Divisions $60 billion plus commercial real estate portfolio.  The group is also responsible for dispositions of distressed loan and commercial OREO.  Prior to his current role, Mr. Deane was a Sr. Asset Manager accountable for the CMBS special servicing, joint venture equity investments and highly structured/complex transactions teams.  Mr. Deane joined Wachovia Securities in April, 2003.  Before joining Wachovia, Mr. Deane was V.P. and Sr. Asset Manager in a major national bank’s CMBS servicing unit were he was responsible for primary servicing, master servicing, and special servicing of securitized commercial real estate loans.  Mr. Deane was responsible for the vast majority of all aspects of securitized large loan asset management.  Mr. Deane’s career includes positions in loan workout, REO disposition and Sr. Credit Officer for several California federal savings banks.  Mr. Deane has additional experience as a deal manager/underwriter and subsequently as a regional manager for a debt origination platform for a national bank.  Mr. Deane has been personally responsible for over 200 workouts, foreclosures and REO dispositions totaling over $2 billion.  Mr. Deane began his real estate career as a commercial real estate broker in 1989.

Mr. Deane received a Masters of Business Administration degree with an emphasis in finance and marketing from Pepperdine University and a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Claremont McKenna College.

• Paul M. Fox, Managing Director, CERBERUS REAL ESTATE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT, LLC.

Paul M. Fox joined Cerberus Capital Management in November 1997 and is currently a Managing Director responsible for identifying and negotiating new investments.  Additionally, Mr. Fox is the liaison between Cerberus private equity, Ableco finance and Cerberus real estate.

Cerberus Capital Management a global private investment firm with over $25 billion of discretionary capital under management.   Cerberus Real Estate Capital Management invests directly and indirectly in real estate equity, debt and operating businesses, and has consummated over two hundred fifty distinct investments since inception in 1994 in the United States and abroad.  Cerberus Real Estate Capital Management, LLC is an industry leader in delivering innovative, customized solutions for the capital needs of real estate professionals and owners of complex real estate and real estate-related assets.

From 1987 to 1997, Mr. Fox held various positions at Jones Lang Wootton culminating in the overall responsibility for the Corporate and Advisory Services division for North and South America.  Jones Lang Wootton’s Corporate and Advisory Services advised and implemented strategic elements of the real estate holdings of global corporate and institutional clients worldwide. 

Prior to Jones Lang Wootton, Mr. Fox served in the United States Air Force.  Mr. Fox graduated from the University of Texas summa cum laude with degrees in real estate and finance.

• Lauren Hochfelder Silverman, Vice President, MORGAN STANLEY

Lauren Hochfelder Silverman is a Vice President of Morgan Stanley and an acquisitions officer in the firm’s U.S. Real Estate Investing Business, in which she has worked since 2000.

Lauren graduated magna cum laude and with distinction from Yale University with a B.A. in Ethics, Politics & Economics.

Lauren is actively involved in the New York community where she holds advisory board positions at the following philanthropic organizations: The Mount Sinai Medical Center (where she has chaired the Young Advisory Board for four years), The American Museum of Natural History, The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and State of Israel Bonds (where she is a member of the Real Estate New Leadership Cabinet).

• Daniel H. Lesser, Senior Managing Director-Industry Leader, Hospitality & Gaming Group, CB RICHARD ELLIS

During the past twenty-six years, Mr. Lesser has specialized in real estate appraisals, economic feasibility evaluations, investment counseling and transactional services of hotels, resorts, conference centers, casinos, and timeshare/fractional ownership properties on a worldwide basis. Services provided to corporate, institutional, and individual clients and municipalities on all facets of hospitality real estate including: litigation support and expert testimony, site evaluation, highest and best use analysis, appraisals for mortgage, acquisition, and portfolio management, workout strategies, operational analysis, property tax assessment appeal evaluations, economic impact studies, deal structuring and fairness opinions.

Prior to his hospitality advisory experience, Mr. Lesser held operational and administrative positions with Hilton Hotels Corporation and Eurotels-Switzerland. A graduate of the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, he also attended the Ecole Hoteliere in Lausanne, Switzerland. Mr. Lesser has authored numerous articles and has been quoted in major newspaper, internet, business, and hospitality industry publications and has been a frequent lecturer on a variety of hotel real estate topics.

• Drew Goldman, Co-Head Real Estate Investment Banking, Managing Director, DEUTSCHE BANK SECURITIES INC.

Drew Goldman joined Deutsche Bank in 1999 in the Gaming, Lodging and Leisure group. Prior to that, he was with Sun International Hotels Limited where he was responsible for Strategic Planning, Corporate Finance and Investor Relations from 1997 to 1999. Before joining Sun International, Drew spent five years in investment banking with Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. and Paribas Corporation. Drew has focused on the Gaming and Leisure sectors for 14 years. He has worked in both banking and on the client side, gaining valuable perspective from working with a former client. Drew is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and speaks on corporate finance matters relating to gaming companies and Native American Tribal Gaming Financing.

• John D Troughton, Senior Director, Brokerage, CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD

John Davyes Troughton is a Senior Director and shareholder of Cushman & Wakefield, a global real estate services provider.  Mr. Troughton specializes in working with private equity firms to achieve Post-Transaction Value Enhancement for their real estate.

Mr. Troughton was born and raised in Richmond, California.  He was educated in the public school system, graduating from DeAnza High School in 1980, and then achieved undergraduate and advanced degrees at the University of California at Santa Cruz with highest honors.  He participated in the Ph.D. program at the University of California at Berkeley School of Business.  He moved back to Richmond to assist in the leveraged buyout of the former Rheem Manufacturing facility in the late 1980’s, where he helped save over 400 jobs.  Mr. Troughton then became a real estate professional in Silicon Valley in the early 1990’s, working with Norris Beggs and Simpson, which was acquired by the Galbreath Company.

With Cushman & Wakefield, Mr. Troughton has received many proclamations and congratulatory letters for his transactions from local jurisdictions, members of Congress, and the Governor.  His efforts have helped create real estate opportunities that are now the working places of thousands of local employees.  Mr. Troughton has been involved in residential conversion projects that have produced over 1,000 units of newly entitled housing opportunities.  His efforts since 2000 in West Contra Costa alone have generated in excess of $300 million in upside for his clients and are scheduled to produce over one billion dollars of investment in local municipalities.

Mr. Troughton is a frequent speaker at merger and acquisition conferences throughout the Country, including ACG-LA (Association for Corporate Growth), ACG-New Jersey, Buyouts, The Deal, and the M&A Advisor.  His efforts have been chronicled in the popular press including San Francisco Bay Area newspapers, the Portland Business Times, and BusinessWeek.  He has written articles for publication including the M&A Advisor, The Globe newspaper, and Commercial Property News.  Amongst his most notable articles are “Middle Market Mergers, Acquisitions and Real Estate:  An Opportunity to Re-use and Re-Build,” “Over-Cross Collateralization:  An Urban Problem,” “Saving the Cities,” “Focusing on the Box,” and “Commercial Condo’s:  A Thousand Jobs for Hercules – and Many More for the State and Nation.” 

• Dennis P. Yeskey, National Director, Real Estate Capital Markets, DELOITTE CONSULTING LLP

Dennis is the National Director of Deloitte’s Real Estate Capital Markets Practice and is responsible for developing the Practice in the United States.  In addition, he develops and leads a real estate investment research function for the Practice.  Dennis joined Deloitte in 1995 as the head of the New York Office’s Real Estate Services Profit Center and was responsible for restructuring and developing the Practice into one of the leading Practices in this arena.  In 2000, he was promoted to Group Managing Partner of Deloitte’s Real Estate, Investment Management, Private Equity and Insurance based Practices in the New York Office, along with directing the Firm’s FSI, marketing and eminence building activities.

Throughout his career at Deloitte and prior to Deloitte as a Partner at Kenneth Leventhal & Company, Dennis has focused on providing consulting services to Wall Street, institutional investors (national and global), REITs, high net worth family offices and foreign direct investors.  His areas of expertise include financial advisory, merger and acquisition, investment research and strategy, workouts and bankruptcies along with complex evaluation and litigation issues.  In addition, he plays a key real estate leadership role for Deloitte’s National and Global Financial Services.  He has been extremely active in the European and Asian Practices, having both lived and worked extensively in these regions.  Dennis’ clients include many of the leading global real estate investors such as Apollo, The Blackstone Group, General Electric Real Estate, Goldman Sachs, ING/Clarion, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, O’Connor Capital Partners, Prudential, Starwood Capital, TIAA, and Travelers.  In addition, he has advised several governments, including the US, the UK and Japan.

Dennis received his MBA from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business and BS and MS Engineering degrees from the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering where he was the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2007. After attaining his degrees, Dennis worked for several management consulting firms, initially in the U.S. and then in Europe and Japan, including A. T. Kearney, before joining the well known real estate consulting firm of Kenneth Leventhal in 1987. He is an active member of The Real Estate Roundtable, the Pension Real Estate Association, and the Urban Land Institute (Global Exchange Council).  He has developed, over the last 15 years, an investment research operation which has been responsible for numerous reports and thought leadership publications including his most recent January 2008 publication, 2008 Real Estate Capital Markets Industry Outlook Top Ten Issues, which is the 10th in this series.  Dennis actively represents the Firm with media appearances on programs such as CNBC Power Lunch, Fox Business News Network, TheStreet.com and PBS Nightly Business Report.  He is a frequent speaker and contributor at conferences both in the U.S. and Europe for the Information Management Network and RealShare, along with leading Deloitte’s Technical Update Series around the United States.

• Jeffrey A. Lenobel, Partner, Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP

Jeffrey A. Lenobel is a partner with Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP and head of the firm's Real Estate Practice Group. His practice concentrates on real estate development, real estate finance, sales and acquisitions, and commercial mortgage-backed securitization.

Jeff is listed in Best Lawyers in America, New York SuperLawyers (Manhattan Edition), Who's Who in American Law and Who's Who Legal. He is a recipient of the Burton Award for Legal Achievement, a Fellow of the New York Bar Foundation and a member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers. He serves on the advisory boards of the Chicago Title Insurance Company, the Stewart Title Insurance Company and the First American Title Insurance Company.

Jeff is a member of the American Bar Association–Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law, and a former chair of that section's Committee on Pension Fund Investments and Committee on Securitized Mortgage Lending. He is also a longstanding member of the New York State Bar Association's Committee on Cooperatives and Condominiums and a member of the New York City Bar Association and a former member of its Committee on Housing and Urban Development. Other memberships include the Mortgage Bankers Association, Commercial Mortgage Securities Association and International Council of Shopping Centers.

• Jay Rollins, President, JCR Capital

Mr. Rollins is President and co-founder of JCR Capital, LLC (Johnson Capital/Rollins).  JCR Capital is a specialty real estate finance company, specializing in providing structured debt and equity capital for value added and opportunistic and value added commercial real estate transactions. 

Prior to forming JCR in May 2006, Mr. Rollins was a Managing Director of GMACCM’s Structured Products Group.  In this role Mr. Rollins managed a $500 million balance sheet position that focused on originating bridge loans, mezzanine loans, and participating debt.  The platform focused on opportunistic real estate transactions, in particular,  multifamily, retail, office, industrial, land and affordable housing asset classes.
Mr. Rollins started the Structured Products Group (SPG) in 1999, and over that time originated and was repaid on over $1.1 billion of high yield loans, achieving an unleveraged IRR of 9.7%.  SPG was recognized nationally by numerous industry periodicals including Mezzanine Lender of the Year honors.
Prior to GMACCM, Mr. Rollins was the President and Founder of Eastern Realty Corporation, a real estate investment and advisory company.  Eastern Realty purchased over $400 million of distressed (primary, land and commercial) assets from the RTC and other distressed financial institutions.  The assets were repositioned and resold by Eastern Realty.  These repositioning efforts included debt restructuring, land development and construction.  Eastern Realty was a joint venture partner with Wall Street investment banks, real estate opportunity fund and private equity firms.
Prior to forming Eastern Realty, Mr. Rollins was Director of Finance for the public homebuilder, NVR, LP.  In this position Mr. Rollins was responsible for capital relationships and structuring debt and equity for land development and construction projects.
Mr. Rollins began his career as a commercial real estate lender with regional banks in the Washington, DC area.  Mr. Rollins holds an MBA in Finance from George Washington University and an undergraduate degree in Finance and Marketing from Virginia Tech.

• Mark Hafner, Principal, Greystar Investment Group

Mark Hafner is a Principal of the Greystar Investment Group.  In this role, Mr. Hafner is responsible for the firm's investment activity in the Eastern United States. 
Headquartered out of Charleston, SC, Greystar presently manages over 100,000 apartment units across the U.S.  Greystar currently has a portfolio $1.5 Billion in multifamily assets with a development pipeline of $500 million in new construction.
Prior to joining Greystar, Mr. Hafner was a Vaccine Specialist with Merck & Co.  Previously, Mr. Hafner worked at Clearchannel Communications and its predecessor company, Jacor Communications. 
Mr. Hafner received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his BA from The State University of New York at Oswego.  He is an active member of the Urban Land Institute and the National Multifamily Housing Council.

• Sanford S. Herrick, Founding Member & Managing Director, HUDSON REALTY CAPITAL LLC

Sanford S. Herrick, Managing Director, is a co-founder of HRC. Previously he was a founding principal of SWH Funding Corp and co-founder and principal of Realty Holdings of America, a real estate advisory firm engaged in asset management and the purchase of corporate sale/leaseback transactions. Herrick served as senior vice president at Integrated Resources, Inc. and as vice president and regional manager at Citibank from 1978 through 1986. Hudson Realty Capital LLC (HRC) is a real estate fund manger currently with more than $1 billion of assets under management. Since the formation of its initial two funds in 2002, the company has closed more than $2 billion in debt and equity transactions. Activities include originating, participating in, servicing, restructuring and/or acquiring high-yield, special situation debt and mezzanine loans, as well as investing directly in real estate and acquiring under-performing real estate assets and other real estate-related instruments. The firm recently earned Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) status, reflecting a rich diversity within its leadership.

• Adam Steinberg, Managing Director, ACKMAN-ZIFF

• Dan Hartman, Senior Director and Northeast Region Manager, WRIGHTWOOD CAPITAL

Mr. Hartman is responsible for originating, structuring and closing Wrightwood Capital’s investments in the Eastern United States, concentrating on the Northeastern markets of Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. He was previously with GE Capital’s North American Equity team where he was responsible for identifying and establishing equity joint venture relationships with real estate operating partners in the Northeast. 

Prior to GE Capital, Mr. Hartman was a Regional Director with Daimler Chrysler Capital (debis) where he originated structured finance, bridge, repositioning, and mezzanine loans for commercial properties in the Eastern U.S., Eastern Canada and the Caribbean. Mr. Hartman has also held positions with ORIX Real Estate and Chase Manhattan Bank. He received his undergraduate degree in economics from Cornell University, a real estate degree from New York University and a masters degree in business administration from Fordham University.   

• Matthew Landau, Principal, WESTPORT CAPITAL PARTNERS

Mr. Landau is a Principal of Westport Capital Partners, an institutional investment firm managing 3 distinct real estate funds.  Mr. Landau is responsible for sourcing, underwriting and closing new business, asset management and is a member of the firm’s Credit Committee.    

Before joining Westport in 2006, Mr. Landau was a Managing Director at Natixis, a AAA rated investment bank, where he was responsible for originating, underwriting and closing structured debt and equity products. Mr. Landau joined in 2002, after working at Bear Stearns for five years in a similar role. Prior to Bear Stearns, he was a Director at Deutsche Bank for two years, a Director and Real Estate Department Head at HSBC for three years and a VP at Citibank for four years. Mr. Landau remains active with the Real Estate Lenders Association, previously serving as its Chairman and currently serving on its Board of Directors. Mr. Landau received a B.S., with Honors, from SUNY-Albany, and an M.S. with honors in Real Estate Finance and Investment from New York University.  

• Paul M. Fried, Principal, AFC REALTY CAPITAL, INC.

Paul’s twenty years in the real estate industry has spanned investment banking, mezzanine lending, asset ownership and development, equity joint ventures and fund raises, and distressed assets. Paul brings to AFC’s clients an expertise in crafting real estate financial products to meet their specific needs and a broad spectrum of capital relationships.

Paul was previously a Principal and Chief Operating Officer of Allegiance Capital Partners, a real estate structured finance firm focused on mezzanine investments, where he co-developed the first financial product designed to provide additional capital to owners with locked out mortgages and secondary financing prohibitions.

Paul was a Director at Deutsche Banc Mortgage Capital, where he oversaw the Transactional Group which handled loan underwriting, due diligence and closing, and was a member of the Investment Committee. Paul’s responsibilities included developing the small-balance mezzanine, preferred equity, floating-rate bridge, and forward construction loan programs.

Paul has been Counsel to the Herrick, Feinstein law firm in New York, where he advised private equity funds and hedge fund on real estate investments, including joint ventures and structured lending.

Paul also has extensive experience with sub-performing and distressed situations. As an attorney with Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy he advised investment banks and subordinated bondholders in structured transactions, reorganizations, and high-yield acquisitions. Paul’s experience includes buying distressed bonds and notes and handling environmentally impacted real estate.

He holds a BA from Rutgers College where he graduated “Henry Rutgers Scholar with Distinction” and a JD from Rutgers University Law School where he was a Law Review editor. Paul is a member of Urban Land Institute.

• Peter Palandjian, Chairman and CEO, INTERCONTINENTAL REAL ESTATE CORPORATION

Peter Palandjian, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, oversees Intercontinental’s affiliated operating companies, with primary responsibility for Investment Strategy and Institutional Relationships. Prior to joining Intercontinental in 1993, Mr. Palandjian worked as the assistant to the CEO of Staples, Inc. Before joining Staples, Mr. Palandjian was an associate with Bain & Company, an international management consulting firm. Intercontinental is an SEC registered private equity investment and development firm that over forty years has built, developed, managed and owned in excess of $4 Billion of real estate. Intercontinental invests co-mingled funds for numerous institutional investors including public and corporate pension plans, foreign governments, foundations, university endowments and Taft-Hartley union pension plans.

Mr. Palandjian has also been active on a number of corporate and not-for-profit boards. He presently serves as a board member of several institutions including: the Board of Overseers of the Boston Symphony Orchestra; Belmont Retirement Board; the Children’s Museum; the New England Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP); O’Neill and Associates; Sovereign Bank New England Advisory; and the Taubman Center at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. In addition, Mr. Palandjian serves as a Trustee of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and the Fessenden School and holds memberships with the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) and the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers (NAREIM). Mr. Palandjian works on behalf of Harvard University as an undergraduate admissions interviewer. Mr. Palandjian was a former Harvard Captain and world ranked tennis player on the ATP Tour. He is also currently on the board of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Mr. Palandjian earned his BA from Harvard University and his MBA from the Harvard Business School.

• Joseph P. Beninati, Managing Partner & Co-Founder, ANTARES REAL ESTATE

Joseph P. Beninati co-founded Antares in 1996 with his partner, James P. Cabrera. Together, they have built Antares into a vertically integrated real estate development and private equity firm, employing approximately 120 professionals, with over $6 billion in assets consisting of more than 10 million square feet. In 2007, Antares was ranked 226th on Inc. magazine’s list of the fastest growing U.S. companies, with a three-year growth rate of 1,008.7%.

In 1997, Antares was the founding investor in Greenwich Technology Partners (GTP), a 13-office, 600-person global engineering firm. Soon after, Mr. Beninati became chairman of the firm, a post that he held until 2002. From 1997 to 2002, GTP saw a growth rate of 7,082% over a five-year period and was ranked the 9th fastest growing U.S. company by Inc. magazine. The company was sold in 2006. Prior to founding Antares, Mr. Beninati was a private equity investor and became chairman and CFO of Telos, a defense contractor with a staff of 2,200, where he is credited with a $1 billion contract from the U.S. Army before the sale of this investment.

Harvard Business School and Ernst & Young LLP have recognized Mr. Beninati as one of America’s top entrepreneurs. He has been the subject of multiple articles in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Dealmaker magazine. Mr. Beninati is a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization and a former board member of its Fairchester Chapter.

Mr. Beninati was born in the Bronx, New York, and graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall in 1982, where he first met Mr. Cabrera. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and religion from Middlebury College. After college, his career began on Wall Street working for Dean Witter Reynolds in investment banking.

• Jeff Gronning, Managing Principal, NORMANDY REAL ESTATE PARTNERS

Mr. Gronning is a Managing Principal of Normandy. Prior to Normandy, he held the position of    Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of Morgan Stanley’s real estate investing division. During his 12 years at Morgan Stanley, he was responsible for a $13 billion asset portfolio that served more than 100 clients. He was also instrumental in raising over $2.6 billion in capital for the Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds (MSREF) and integrating the Lend Lease real estate investment business into the company.

Mr. Gronning, a Certified Public Accountant, earned his Bachelor’s degree in Business/Accounting from Virginia Commonwealth University.

• Jeffrey Finn, President & CEO, NAI GLOBAL

Jeffrey M. Finn is President and Chief Executive Officer of NAI Global. NAI Global, with over 165 affiliated commercial real estate brokerage firms, 325 offices in 55 countries throughout the world, is the world's largest managed network of commercial real estate service firms. The NAI system is involved in over $45 billion in real estate transactions annually. 

Mr. Finn is one of the founders of the company, and over the past decade has helped lead the organization to its current position of industry prominence.  He has been active in marketing, management and strategic planning capacities with NAI.  Additionally, he was instrumental in the development of NAI Global’s Corporate Services platform and led the company’s international expansion beyond The Americas into Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean regions.  Mr. Finn has represented major accounts including BP Amoco, Air Products & Chemicals, The United States Postal Service, Unisource and WorldCom - MCI.

In addition to leading the company's Corporate Services Real Estate Group, Mr. Finn has established the company's many technological initiatives, which have earned the company a leadership position in the use of intranets and extranets, to efficiently deliver services.   NAI Global's proprietary technology provides real time online information about markets and projects to streamline and systematize the transaction and portfolio management process. In 2003 and 2004, his efforts were recognized by Realcomm, from which he received their prestigious "Digital Impact" awards for Brokerage Automation and Innovation in the commercial real estate industry.

Mr. Finn holds a bachelor’s degree from Boston University School of Management, where he graduated Cum Laude.  He holds his New Jersey Real Estate Broker’s license.  Mr. Finn serves on the NAI Global Board of Directors, NAI Cares Foundation Board of Trustees, is a trustee for The Peddie School, and a founding member and past Advisory Board member of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton Real Estate Center.  He has been recognized by NJBIZ, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), National Real Estate Investor, Commercial Property News and Real Estate Forum throughout his career.

• Nancy Lashine, Founding Partner, PARK MADISON PARTNERS

Ms. Lashine is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Park Madison Partners which provides placement and consulting services to leading institutional real estate investment advisors and managers. Prior to the formation of Park Madison Partners in 2006, Ms. Lashine was the President of The Lashine Group which provided consulting services to real estate investment firms.

Ms. Lashine earned her MBA at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business, from Case Western Reserve University. and a BFA in dance and theatre. A native of New York City, she graduated from Hunter College High School. Ms. Lashine is a Board member of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, a member of the Urban Land Institute, WX, the Financial Women’s Organization, a
past Board member of the Pension Real Estate Association, and is past Chair of the PREA Quarterly, a highly regarded institutional real estate investment periodical.

• Michael B. Cohen, Research Strategist, PROPERTY & PORTFOLIO RESEARCH, INC.

Michael Cohen is a Research Strategist with Property & Portfolio Research (PPR). With offices
in Boston and in London, PPR is the leading global provider of independent commercial real estate research and portfolio strategy services to the institutional real estate community. PPR provides views on markets in the United States, Europe and Asia. The firm provides clients with expertise in real estate market analysis, real estate portfolio analysis, mortgage risk analysis, and the design of productive real estate investment strategies. Clients include commercial banks, insurance companies, Wall Street firms, rating agencies, government agencies, pension funds, investment advisors, real estate investment trusts, and private investors. PPR is wholly owned by DMG Information, Inc., the business information division of Daily Mail and General Trust, plc (DMGT).

Mr. Cohen follows and analyzes the state of the U.S. housing market, both rental and for-sale product, tailoring his research in this area to the needs of PPR’s diverse client base. He is the author of several white papers on the state of the apartment market, including The End of the Housing Party: Will Commercial Real Estate Investors Wake Up With a Hangover? He regularly speaks to industry organizations, is often quoted in the national press, and has appeared on both CNBC and Bloomberg Television.

Prior to joining PPR, Mr. Cohen worked for leading employers in both the real estate and technology industries. He received his B.A. in Political Science from SUNY at Buffalo, J.D. from Cornell Law School, and M.B.A. from the Carroll Graduate School of Management at Boston College. Mr. Cohen is also a member of the National Multi Housing Council.

• Peter Zabierek, CFA, Senior Portfolio Manager, Global ex-U.S. Real Estate Securities, URDANG

Mr. Zabierek is the Senior Portfolio Manager responsible for Urdang’s global ex-U.S. investments in publicly traded real estate securities.  In his role as Senior Portfolio Manager of Urdang’s global REIT portfolio, Mr. Zabierek analyzes and interprets implications of major events and economic trends while managing the daily operations of the global ex-U.S. real estate securities portfolio. He has responsibility for covering the non-U.S. REIT universe and managing the NAI Global Commercial Real Estate Services, Worldwide relationship.  Mr. Zabierek dedicates a portion of his time meeting with investors and consultants.  Mr. Zabierek joined Urdang as a portfolio manager and senior securities analyst in 2003.  During his first three years as a Portfolio Manager, he was involved in the research, stock selection and growth of assets under management in the U.S. REIT portfolio.  Mr. Zabierek’s 17 years of professional experience include five years on Wall Street at the investment banking firms Morgan Stanley and Salomon Smith Barney, first structuring and completing real estate and municipal capital markets transactions as an investment banker, and then analyzing REITs and real estate operating companies as a research analyst.  At Morgan Stanley, Mr. Zabierek served as a research analyst in the firm’s REIT group (ranked #2 for 2002 by Institutional Investor magazine), where he focused on the real estate services, office, and industrial sectors. At Salomon Smith Barney, Mr. Zabierek served in both the firm’s municipal securities division and the real estate investment banking group, completing 19 lead managed capital markets transactions.  Prior to his tenure on Wall Street, Mr. Zabierek worked as a consulting engineer in California, serving real estate developers and public agencies.  A registered professional engineer, Mr. Zabierek holds Master’s degrees in both business administration and civil engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.

• Jeffrey W. Adler, Chief Property Operations Officer, AIMCO

Jeff Adler was appointed Chief Property Operations Officer of Apartment Investment and Management Company (AIMCO, NYSE: AIV, S&P 500) in November 2007 when responsibilities for Information Technology were added to his leadership of AIMCO’s Operations platform.  

AIMCO is an apartment Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) which provides homes for 160,000 households in a wide range of product types including luxury, moderately priced, student, and affordable housing. AIMCO was recognized in 2007 as the largest owner and manager of apartment communities in the US, according to the National Multi-Family Housing Council.

Previously, he served as Executive Vice President, AIMCO Property Operations in May 2007 when Affordable Property Operations and Conventional Operations were combined. Prior to that, he was named EVP, Conventional Property Operations in January 2004. He served as Senior Vice President of Risk Management of AIMCO from January 2002 until November 2002, when he added the responsibility of Senior Vice President, Marketing.

From 1990 to 2000 Mr. Adler held several positions at Progressive Insurance including Colorado General Manager from 1996 to 2000, Product Manager for Progressive’s Mountain Division from 1992 to 1996, and Director of Corporate Marketing from 1990 to 1992.

• Paul E. Adornato, CFA, Senior REITS Analyst, BMO CAPITAL MARKETS

Paul is a senior analyst in BMO Capital Markets’ Equity Research Group, covering the real estate investment trust (REIT) sector. Prior to joining BMO Capital Markets, Paul co-headed the REIT Research effort at independent equity firm Maxcor Financial. Before Maxcor, Paul worked at Cobblestone Research, LLC, an independent research firm that he founded. From 1998 to 2000, Paul co-managed a $700 million REIT portfolio at Aeltus Investment Management, which consistently performed in the top quartile of all real estate funds. Between 1992 and 1998, Paul was a research analyst at Merrill Lynch and later at PaineWebber, where he was a member of Institutional Investor’s top-ranked REIT research team. Paul joined BMO Capital Markets in 2005.

Paul holds an MS in real estate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College. Paul is also a CFA charterholder.