Private equity real estate firms are looking to capitalize on Hong Kong's recovery. But as China's development continues unabated, will the mainland's economic emergence eventually threaten the city's prosperity? By Robin Marriott
10 min read · 23 January 2013
The elder statesman 2006-11-01 Staff Writer It is perhaps unfair that Sam Zell comes at the end of our list. In many respects, his name should be at the beginning. One of the most successful real estate investors in the modern era, Zell helped lay the foundation for the private equity real estate industry. I
1 min read · 23 January 2013
The Singapore sage 2006-11-01 Staff Writer Dr. Seek Ngee Huat likes to keep a low profile. Unfortunately, sometimes he doesn't have much of a choice. As the head of the real estate program at one of the most powerful institutional investors in Asia and beyond, Seek is among the most-watched property investor
2 min read · 23 January 2013
The philanthropist 2006-11-01 Staff Writer There is no shortage of interesting stories in the world of real estate—Joe E. Robert Jr. is proof of that. Robert got his start in the business when the builder he was working for went bankrupt in the middle of several projects. Seizing upon the opportunity, Robert
2 min read · 23 January 2013
The young gun 2006-11-01 Staff Writer Chad Pike , still in his thirties, is running Blackstone's real estate operations in Europe, making him one of the youngest stars in the asset class. Though he is often compared to two other young guns—his counterpart in the US, Jon Gray, and the co-head of Morgan Stanl
1 min read · 23 January 2013
The market maker 2006-11-01 Staff Writer Globalization has to start somewhere. In the case of European private equity real estate, it arguably began when US investment banks moved their principal real estate investment arms across the Atlantic—in other words, it began with Roger Orf .<br /> <br /&
1 min read · 23 January 2013
The internationalist 2006-11-01 Staff Writer In close to five years at the California Public Employees' Retirement System, Mike McCook transformed the largest pension fund in the US into a global powerhouse among institutional investors in real estate. Though he left his post earlier this year, McCook's infl
1 min read · 23 January 2013
The fugitive 2006-11-01 Staff Writer By all accounts, Steven Lee, an ambitious 30-something, Korean-American Harvard MBA, was a rising star at Texas-based Lone Star Funds. However, few falls in the industry's short history have been as dramatic—or as damagingly influential. Today, Lee is facing charges for t
2 min read · 23 January 2013
The hedger 2006-11-01 Staff Writer As the head of Blackacre Capital, the property investment arm of Cerberus Capital Management, Ronald Kravit has helped define the trend of hedge funds entering the world of private equity real estate. In the process, he and his team have been involved in some of the industr
1 min read · 23 January 2013
The local 2006-11-01 Staff Writer Osamu Kaneko founded Tokyo-based KK daVinci Advisors in 1998, a move that helped spur opportunistic and value-added real estate investment strategies in Japan. By buying run-down properties from cash-strapped landlords, Kaneko was able to earn in excess of 40 percent returns
1 min read · 23 January 2013
