Real Estate Capital

Laurent Grill, JLL Spark’s Partner and Managing Member, shares how founder experience shapes venture investing and where AI is transforming real estate. Laurent Grill, JLL Spark’s Partner and Managing Member, joins Nancy Lashine to explore how a founder-first mindset is shaping venture capital in real estate technology.  Laurent is unique in the proptech space. He’s been a founder multiple times — he even did a stint on Shark Tank — and now deploys capital into early-stage proptech companies to transform the way the built environment works. He explains that in competitive markets, success often comes down to differentiation at the founder level. [00:32:52] “When you're sitting down in front of a founder, sometimes you just have to ask the question of like, why you? Why you, why your team? What is different about your business and you personally that's actually gonna give you a chance of success in this market?” That perspective carries into JLL Spark’s venture capital strategy: real-world industry pain points and measurable ROI guide investments. Laurent also reflects on the evolution of proptech, the rise of AI as core infrastructure, and what an “AI-native” building could look like. [00:55:32] “AI is . . . not a product, it's a core infrastructure. . . . This is now the fundamental infrastructure of what technology looks like.”  From operational efficiency to construction innovation, Laurent outlines what it means to put people before the product, where technology is reshaping the built environment and where the investment opportunities are. Links Laurent Grill | LinkedIn JLL Spark’s website

Moran Cerf, neuroscientist and AI Consultant, joins Nancy Lashine to explore how brain science and AI are transforming business, leadership, and investing. Drawing from research on real-time decision making, Moran explains that the brain has no universal formula for optimal performance. Instead, each person operates best under different conditions. The key, he argues, is understanding how decisions actually form in the brain and how leaders can align teams. [00:15:46] “Stories are the best tool to sync brains.” Moran reflects on AI and how it’s reshaping work. He warns that relying on AI uncritically or dismissing it entirely can be dangerous. [00:23:39] “You need to think of AI as a great tool . . . it should be a responder to a question, meaning you ask AI a question, you get an answer, and that is the data you use to make a decision yourself.” From geopolitics and markets to hiring and training, Moran outlines how leaders can adapt their organizations while preserving the uniquely human judgment that defines sound investment decisions. Links Moran Cerf | LinkedIn R.O. AI’s website

Diego López explains how sovereign wealth funds invest, why real estate remains core, and where global capital is deploying today. Diego López, Global Sovereign Wealth Fund’s (SFW) Founder and Managing Director, explains how sovereign wealth funds deploy capital and what their strategies signal for real estate investors. With insight into roughly $15 trillion in sovereign assets, Diego shares how these institutions have shifted from passive allocators to sophisticated investors. Diego is also an author and a world-renowned extreme open water and ice swimmer who has competed in races on all seven continents. He’s found the grit that it takes to be a great swimmer has served him well in his professional life too. [15:17] “Building on what I've learned from sports and keeping sight on the long-term target, if you stay consistent, if you stay working hard, . . . it's going to pay off at some point.” Diego describes why real estate remains foundational to sovereign portfolios, even as allocations shift toward sectors like data centers and senior housing. As allocations fluctuate, total exposure still continues to rise as sovereign balance sheets expand. [20:06] “Real estate has always been a centerpiece in [sovereign wealth funds’] asset allocation.” Diego explains that sovereign funds are becoming more selective and forward-looking. He emphasizes that sovereigns invest with long horizons and align portfolios with future economic needs. For investors and operators, Diego provides a clear signal. Sovereign capital is growing, becoming more sophisticated, and continuing to view real estate as a critical component of long-term portfolio strategy. Links Diego López | LinkedIn Global SWF’s website

John Atwater, Prime Finance’s Co-Founder and Managing Partner, explains how credit platforms create yield, leverage, and compete through tech and scale. John Atwater, Prime Finance’s Co-Founder and Managing Partner, shares how he built one of the most established platforms in real estate private credit.  He explains why real estate debt looks compelling in today’s environment, particularly for institutions seeking stability and cash flow. As rates reset and equity valuations adjust, credit has offered attractive yields with defined risk parameters. [00:03:50] “Debt in fact has outperformed commercial real estate equity for the last three, five, and 10 year timeframes.” John highlights that structuring and managing back leverage differentiates credit platforms. He walks through how Prime matches term funding and uses CLOs and note sales to protect spread and liquidity.  John shares a wealth of wisdom. Exploring AI experimentation, investor demand for yield, and real estate’s evolution, his insights give a roadmap for the future of real estate credit.  Links John Atwater | LinkedIn Prime Finance’s website

Jennifer Wenzel, Director at Teacher Retirement System of Texas, talks alpha-generation, partnership, and strategy through unpredictable cycles. Jennifer Wenzel, TRS (Teacher Retirement System) of Texas’ Director, shares how pension investors approach real estate across cycles, geographies, and structures. Texas TRS is one of the largest and most influential pension investors. In the 16 years that Jennifer has been there, she’s fostered Texas TRS’s real estate platform growth from a 3% allocation to roughly 15% of a $230 billion plan. Jennifer explains why TRS positions real estate as an alpha-generating asset class, leaning more heavily into non-core strategies, co-investments, and programmatic joint ventures.  She discusses how the “premier list” framework allows the team to go deeper with fewer partners and respond quickly to new opportunities in niche sectors. like industrial outdoor storage and data centers. [00:18:54] “Getting the fee strategy right is super important. We don’t like to pay catch-ups—ever. That’s kind of been our mantra through the years.” Jennifer shares how Texas TRS adapts to industry shifts, evaluates partners, and balances fee-discipline with being a partner of choice. She emphasizes that trust, direct communication, and innovation remain non-negotiable, particularly when markets are stressed. [00:20:48] “There is no perfect partner, but it’s just a feeling of trust that you get—like, how are they answering your questions? I like people who communicate directly.” Jennifer offers a candid look at how a sophisticated pension investor thinks about risk, resilience, and long-term value creation—a valuable perspective, especially for allocators, managers, and emerging leaders.  Links Jennifer Wenzel | LinkedIn Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ website

Ryan Cotton, Partner and Head of Real Estate at Bain Capital, is a philosophy-trained investor who moved from baseball ops and consulting into private equity. He talks about a why-first, thematic approach to durable real estate investing. Short takes on sector selection, data centers, senior housing, inflation effects, and when to build platforms versus partner.

Park Madison’s executive committee shares what investors can expect in 2026, where capital is flowing and how higher interest rates are reshaping strategy. Park Madison’s executive committee—Rob Kohn, Carrie Coulson Naik, Jack Koch, Brian Di Salvo, and John Sweeney—joins Nancy Lashine to break down the firm’s 2026 Outlook and what it signals for real estate investors navigating a slower, more disciplined market cycle. The group explores how interest rates are forcing a reset in capital structures. With the return of transaction activity and improving price discovery, the discussion shifts to delving into why recapitalizations, continuation vehicles and secondaries are core features of today’s real estate markets. [Jack, 00:14:22] “Real estate is cyclical. It goes up, it goes down. [Picture] you're a long-term institutional investor with a 30 to 50-year time horizon. The smoothing effects will take care of the overall long term return.” The group also examines structural shifts shaping 2026: the barbell effect in fundraising, consolidation among middle-market managers, and growing investment in data centers, industrial outdoor storage and manufactured housing.  [Rob, 00:20:37] “I think folks are waking up to the fact that one: interest rates are gonna be at the level they're at now for a little bit longer, and your underwriting has to work there. And two: you need to get money back to your investors. . . . Distributions, distributions, distributions.” Taking a global perspective, they highlight why Asia is attracting incremental attention as U.S. political and economic uncertainty rises. Grounded in data and firsthand market experience, the episode offers a 1000-foot view of where real estate is normalizing and where opportunity is emerging for patient investors. Links Park Madison Partners’ website 2026 Outlook report

Nancy Lashine highlights memorable moments from the second half of Season 3 and offers a preview of the powerhouse guests shaping the future of Real Estate Capital.

Drew Murphy of Berkshire Global Advisors shares how to attain lasting success in private real estate by balancing capital, people, and purpose. Drew Murphy, head of Private Markets Advisory at Berkshire Global Advisors, sits at the center of real estate’s transformation—from entrepreneurial fund managers to institutional platforms.  Named by PERE as one of the 100 most influential people in private real estate, Drew has advised on many of the industry’s headline deals, including Artemis’ sale to Barings, Blue Owl’s acquisition of Oak Street, and Colliers’ purchase of Harrison Street. In this conversation, Drew explains how the wave of manager consolidation since 2021 has been less about exit planning and more about scaling for growth.  He breaks down the evolution of the GP stakes market, the rise of insurance-backed capital, and how private equity’s move into wealth and retail distribution is reshaping access to real estate. [15:11] “The market is consolidating. If you look across every report out there, [they are] just about the big getting bigger, and the middle market is getting, to a certain extent, pinched by that reality.”  Drew also shares insights on how culture, trust, and alignment determine success long after a transaction closes.  [1:06:08] “What we talk about across our firm is [when] providing very close-knit quality and honest advice, that really can't go wrong for you.” His perspective reveals why today’s most effective advisors think like both dealmakers and therapists—balancing capital, people, and purpose. Links: Drew Murphy | LinkedIn Berkshire Global Advisors’ Website

Tom Gilbane, Co-President of Rockpoint, shares lessons from three decades of private equity—handshakes, home court advantage, and hard work. Tom Gilbane, Co-President of Rockpoint, reflects on a career that traces the evolution of modern real estate private equity—from Merrill Lynch and Westbrook Partners to building Rockpoint into one of today’s leading mid-market firms. Born into a family with deep construction roots, Tom learned early on the difference between a contractor’s 3% fee and a developer’s long-term stake. His career began on Wall Street during the REIT IPO boom of the 1990s before he joined Westbrook and later co-founded Rockpoint in 2003. Along the way, he helped shape a firm known for its focus on “address-level investing” and creating real estate entrepreneurs. [11:00] “You can’t market time, but you can definitely get things wrong.” Tom shares candid insights into cycles past and present—from the boom-and-bust of early opportunity funds to Rockpoint’s strategy of combining macro perspective with deeply local, micro-level execution. He reflects on home court advantage, why supply-demand-pricing power is the key to returns, and how operators have become just as important as capital in driving performance. [27:00] “There might be more equity for office than there is investible office, which sounds counterintuitive, but that’s the reality today.” From memorable deal stories like 299 Park Avenue to climbing Kilimanjaro with his 80-year-old father-in-law, Tom brings perspective, humor, and hard-earned wisdom about building teams, upholding a handshake culture, and playing the long game in real estate. Links Tom Gilbane | LinkedIn Rockpoint Website Rockhill Management Website