The Distribution by Juniper Square

Jon Martin, CEO of AEW, a leader in global real estate with $80B+ AUM. He traces his unconventional path to the top and discusses how capital costs and specialization are reshaping the industry. Conversation covers consolidation toward mega-managers, partnering with local specialists, and why asset selection and execution now matter most. Also explores AEW’s push into data, systems, and practical AI tools.

John Atwater, co-founder and managing partner of Prime Finance with decades in commercial real estate lending and apartment ownership. He recounts launching Prime during the S&L crisis and why market stress breeds opportunity. They explore how Prime built scale across CMBS, origination, and special situations. The conversation compares real estate and corporate private credit and outlines near-term market dynamics and where opportunities may arise.

Henry Steinberg, Global Head of EQT Real Estate and partner with a background building Exeter Property Group, talks sector specialization and scaling a global platform. He covers the rise from logistics focus to expanding into living and data centers. He explains how geospatial data, analytics and AI shape site selection and contrasts US and European market dynamics.

Travis Pritchett, CEO of Harbert Management Corporation and leader of an $8B real assets platform, shares his unconventional path from biology and fly-fishing into alternatives. He discusses HMC’s power generation play and how it captures AI and data center tailwinds without taking data center risk. He also covers the rise of luxury senior housing and why Europe looks ripe for value-add opportunities.

Katie Fasken, founder and managing partner of August Advisors who raises Canadian institutional capital, explains why Canada is more than the Maple Eight. She maps a ~$4T opportunity across pensions, provincial nuances, and private wealth. Conversations cover real assets, infrastructure definitions, GP-led continuation vehicles, and how managers win Canadian LPs on coast-to-coast roadshows.

In this episode of The Distribution, Brandon Sedloff sits down with Steven DeFrancis, Founder and CEO of Cortland, to unpack how multifamily evolved from a commodity product into a true consumer service business. Steven shares the story behind Cortland’s transformation from a small merchant builder into a vertically integrated investment manager with more than 75,000 units and $20 billion in gross asset value. The conversation explores why operational depth, brand trust, and technology infrastructure now sit at the center of performance in living real estate. Steven walks through the post-GFC research that reshaped Cortland’s strategy, the demographic shifts that extended renter lifecycles, and the deliberate decision to build operational infrastructure long before raising institutional LP capital. He also details how brand equity translates directly into pricing power, retention, and investor returns, and why scale is increasingly essential in a consolidating market. They discuss: The pivot from merchant development to a vertically integrated operating platform Why multifamily shifted from a commodity to a consumer service business How brand trust creates measurable top-line rent premiums and longer resident tenure The role of data, AI, and centralized workflows in reducing fraud, speeding leasing, and improving performance Why 2026 and beyond may present compelling acquisition opportunities amid capital market stress and supply overhang Links: Cortland - https://cortland.com/ Steven on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-defrancis-022a564/ Brandon on LinkedIn - ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/bsedloff/⁠ Juniper Square - ⁠https://www.junipersquare.com/⁠ Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:21) - Steven’s background and career (00:13:48) - Building Cortland and lessons from the GFC (00:20:06) - Building a vertically integrated operating platform (00:24:13) - Raising institutional LP funds (00:28:02) - Cortland’s scale, markets, and fund vehicles (00:34:22) - Operational alpha (00:42:20) - 2026 market outlook (00:50:40) - Tech and AI in multifamily (00:55:28) - Advice for operators (01:00:11) - Closing thoughts

Mike Kelly, co-president and CIO of Future Standard and longtime alternatives investor, traces his path from Queens to building private wealth distribution at an $88B manager. He discusses how alternatives moved from endowments to individual investors. He explains Future Standard’s shift to internal strategies, the appeal of middle-market private deals, and why traditional 60/40 thinking may need rethinking.

Michael Sidgmore, Partner and co-founder of Broadhaven Ventures and creator of Alts Goes Mainstream, draws on a career from Goldman to iCapital. He talks about how education drives private market adoption in the wealth channel. He explores GP strategies for reaching wealth, the rise of evergreen structures, consolidation in wealth management, and why brand and authenticity now matter.

Lara Banks, Managing Director and Head of Private Equity at Makena Capital, brings energy, quant trading, and project finance experience to institutional investing. She discusses Makena’s evolution from an endowment model, focus on emerging managers and independent sponsors, managing liquidity in evergreen portfolios, and hot themes like AI, energy infrastructure, and biotech.

Mark Sjoberg, CIO at Capital Creek Partners focused on asset allocation for large families. Mark Neely, Director of Alternatives at GenTrust who sources and diligences private investments. Brian Cho, head of distribution at Peachtree Group working across equity, hotels, and credit. They discuss how private wealth allocators build portfolios, preferences for structures and liquidity, the rise of operational due diligence, and where opportunities lie in debt and special situations.