The State of Capital Markets
9:00 - 9:50am Klarman Hall Mainstage
Panelists:
Robert Morse
Executive Chairman | Bridge Investment Group
Robert Morse brings over 35 years of experience in real estate investment management, commercial and investment banking and private equity fund management as Executive Chairman of Bridge Investment Group (“Bridge” or the “Firm”). As Executive Chairman, Robert is integrally involved in the management, strategy and capitalization of Bridge. He serves on the Firm’s investment committees, leads the Board of Directors and helps to develop strategy and execution for the Firm.
Prior to joining Bridge, Robert served as CEO of Citigroup’s Asia Institutional Clients Group from 2004-2008, which included financial services in 17 countries employing over 14,000 people. During Robert’s tenure, Citigroup was awarded the ‘Best Bank in Asia’ award annually by FinanceAsia, EuroMoney and The Asset magazines and in selected client surveys. Prior to his position as CEO of Citigroup’s Asia Institutional Client’s Group, Robert served as the Head of Global Investment Banking for Citigroup, based in New York.
Robert is a 1977 graduate of Yale College, Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude, and a 1981 graduate of the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Law School.
Robert serves on a variety of charitable organization boards, including as Chairman of the Yale President’s Council on International Activities, the Grand Teton National Park Foundation Resource Council and the Whitney Museum Directors’ Council.
Richard Mack
Co-founder and CEO | Mack Real Estate Group
Mr. Mack is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mack Real Estate Group, a real estate owner, operator, developer, lender, and fund manager. Before founding MREG in 2013, Mr. Mack served as the Chief Executive Officer of AREA's (founded as Apollo Real Estate Advisors) North American business. Over 20 years, Mr. Mack was involved in the investment of billions of equity capital in debt and equity real estate transactions, and was specifically responsible for creating new business lines to capitalize on evolving market trends. Before AREA, Mr. Mack was a member of the Real Estate Investment Banking Department at Shearson Lehman Hutton.
Mr. Mack serves on the Wharton School of Business Undergraduate Advisory Board and created a course on Real Estate Disruption. Mr. Mack serves on the Board of Trustees of the Randall's Island Sports Foundation, the Child Mind Institute, and as member of the Robin Hood Foundation's Housing & Homelessness Committee and as Chairman of the Board of the Metropolitan Council on Poverty. Mr. Mack earned a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from the Columbia University School of Law.
Nicholas Azrack
Partner | Baupost Group
Nick joined Baupost in 2009 and leads the firm’s real estate investment team. In his role he oversees our investments in a variety of real estate opportunities including real estate-related securities, development and redevelopment opportunities across asset classes, distressed debt secured by real estate, lending, and land.
Prior to joining Baupost, Nick was an Analyst at Vornado Realty Trust in New York. He graduated from Georgetown University with a B.A. in Political Economy. Nick is actively involved in a number of civic organizations and serves on the Neighborhood House Charter School’s Board of Trustees and is a board member of Sequoia Heritage.
Fred Cooper - Moderator
Senior Vice President Finance, International Development & Investor Relations | Toll Brothers
(NYSE:TOL). Toll, a Fortune 500 Company, is the 5th largest U.S. home builder by revenues, the 6th largest multifamily rental apartment developer, and among the largest land and community developers in the U.S. Toll is also one of the nation’s largest urban high-density/high-rise condo and rental tower developers with 50+ buildings and over 7,000 units completed.
Since its 1967 founding, Toll has built over 150,000 homes. Publicly listed on the NYSE since 1986, Toll serves first-time, move-up, empty-nester, active-adult, urban high-rise, and second-home buyers and renters in 60+ urban and suburban U.S. markets in 24 states. The Company has been named World's Most Admired Home Building Company 8 times in Fortune magazine's survey of The World's Most Admired Companies.
Fred Cooper leads Toll's Finance and Investor Relations Departments, which are responsible for its Wall Street, banking, joint venture, and rating agency relationships, corporate planning, M&A, ESG and financial marketing activities in the U.S. and globally. Since joining Toll in 1993, his teams have raised over $30 billion to fuel the firm’s growth from a $300 million regional home builder to a national land developer/home building company with peak annual revenue of nearly $10 billion.
Fred also oversees Toll’s exploration of international development opportunities and joint venture partnering relationships with major U.S. and international financial and development institutions. He has raised significant joint venture capital from international partners for major U.S. development projects totaling over $1 billion.
From 1989 to 1993, Fred was Director of Corporate Finance and Planning at DKM Properties Corp., the real estate arm of a Forbes Private 50 company and one of the nation’s largest private companies. From 1984 to 1989, he was Senior Vice President and a member of the Executive Committee of the NYC Financial Services Corporation, (now NYC Economic Development Corp.), New York City’s economic development bank. From 1980 to 1983 he worked in community-based affordable housing and economic development in the South Bronx and Brooklyn, New York.
Fred has a strong personal interest in economic and real estate development and affordable housing in emerging markets. He teaches in Wharton’s “Real Estate Development in Emerging Markets” course and has lectured on real estate finance and development since 2006 in Wharton’s International Housing Finance Program. He is President of U.S. Friends of Kenya Community Development Foundation and an advisor to REALL International, which provides capital and technical assistance to affordable housing developers in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. He is a volunteer consultant with the Stanford University SEED Program, where he works with African entrepreneurs in the real estate development sector.
Fred holds an A.B. from Brown University and a Master of Public Policy in finance and international development from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.