Podcast
Real Estate Capital
Hosted by Nancy Lashine · EN
Real Estate Capital offers candid, one-on-one conversations with some of the most influential people in commercial real estate. Hosted by Nancy Lashine, Founder of Park Madison Partners, the show focuses on real estate investment and capital formation, with in-depth perspectives from some of the most respected decision makers in the institutional real estate community. You’ll learn about successful transactions, investment philosophies, innovative business strategies, real estate operations and technology, and the personal characteristics and skills that have propelled these individuals in their careers.
13episodes
Episodes
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Anthony Scaramucci | Founder of SkyBridge Capital & SALT
2w ago00:56:05Tap to summarizeAnthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge and SALT, speaks on resilience, manager selection and what tokenization could mean for real estate. Anthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge and SALT, reflects on the early lessons in resilience he learned from his parents. They worked as a makeup artist and a laborer and instilled in him a strong work ethic and a love of people. He shares that his high school guidance counselor had a significant influence on him, too. Without his encouragement, Anthony wouldn’t have gone to Tufts and might not be where he is today. [00:10:36] “You need people to help you. . . . You gotta go through your rite of passage and you don't have to be embarrassed about it.” Anthony shares how his career has evolved and how he learned from his failures as well as successes. When COVID lasted longer than expected, Anthony stuck to playing the long game. [00:16:02] “Everybody's a long-term investor until they have short-term losses. . . . We made a decision, which turned out to be one of the better decisions actually: we pivoted the business into digital assets and started buying bitcoin.” Anthony is full of knowledge and experience. He speaks about stagflation, the possibility of AI productivity lowering interest rates and the factors at play in foreign investors’ willingness to invest in America. Links Anthony Scaramucci | LinkedIn SkyBridge Capital’s website SALT’s website
Transcribe →Sonny Kalsi | BGO’s Co-CEO and Sun Life Capital Management’s President and CEO
4w ago00:53:13Tap to summarizeSonny Kalsi, BGO’s Co-CEO and SLC Management’s President and CEO, discusses his real estate investment philosophy, building relationships and the biggest challenge of his career. Sonny shares pivotal moments following his 2009 departure from Morgan Stanley that enabled him to build and scale GreenOak. [00:11:00] “Honestly, my friends and my colleagues from Morgan Stanley rallying to me, my friends and wife came rallying to me . . . that helped out a lot. . . . Resilience is super important.” He explains how that period reshaped both his leadership approach and investment strategy, driving a focus on simplicity, alignment and long-term relationships. As the industry evolves, Sonny emphasizes that success increasingly depends on execution at the asset level and having the right operating capabilities in place. [00:31:44] “You got to make money the old fashioned way, which is you got to roll up your sleeves and do the hard work on the asset.” Sonny’s insights on rethinking platform scale outline how firms can position themselves to compete in a higher-rate, more operationally demanding environment. Links Sonny Kalsi | LinkedIn BGO’s website SLC Management’s website
Transcribe →Laurent Grill | Partner at JLL Spark
Apr 100:58:01Tap to summarizeLaurent 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
Transcribe →Moran Cerf | Neuroscientist and AI Consultant
Mar 1801:10:01Tap to summarizeMoran 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
Transcribe →Diego López | Global SWF’s Founder & Managing Director
Mar 400:43:42Tap to summarizeDiego 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
Transcribe →John Atwater | Prime Finance’s Co-Founder and Managing Partner
Feb 1800:59:35Tap to summarizeJohn 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
Transcribe →Jennifer Wenzel | Director at Teacher Retirement System of Texas
Feb 400:42:40Tap to summarizeJennifer 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
Transcribe →Ryan Cotton | Bain Capital’s Partner and Head of Real Estate
Jan 2101:02:05Tap to summarizeRyan Cotton, Bain Capital’s Partner and Head of Real Estate, explains how thematic investing, alignment and curiosity create durable real estate strategy. Ryan Cotton, Bain Capital’s Partner and Head of Real Estate, shares how a “why-first” mindset can help investors avoid cyclical traps and identify durable real estate themes. Ryan shares that his unconventional path to real estate has given him a critical edge. A philosophy major at Princeton, he spent a year working in baseball operations for the Boston Red Sox before joining Bain as a consultant. Following Ryan’s lead, intellectual curiosity and pattern recognition have become key to how Bain deploys capital across alternative real estate sectors. [00:07:03] “Our job is not to traffic in conventional wisdom. . . . It’s to ask ‘why’. . . . When you get some fundamental insight through that interrogation, . . . then you know what you’re really betting on.” From senior housing to hyper-infill industrial, Ryan emphasizes that it’s crucial to understand “why” an asset should exist before deciding “how” to own it. That discipline, he argues, creates resilience across cycles and avoids dependence on cap rate compression alone. Ryan also shares how he thinks about real estate’s role in portfolios, macro risk, and inflation. Drawing on historical parallels, he outlines why real estate can underperform early in inflationary cycles yet recover through income growth when supply tightens. [00:22:16] Real estate is a cyclical business . . . and the people who are exceptional at real estate are first and foremost fantastic macro-economists. For investors and operators alike, Ryan offers actionable steps toward creating portfolio and personnel stability when markets are in flux. Links Ryan Cotton | LinkedIn Bain Capital Real Estate’s website
Transcribe →2026 Outlook | Park Madison Partners Executive Committee
Jan 700:39:12Tap to summarizePark 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
Transcribe →December 2025 Round-up | Real Estate Capital
Dec 2400:06:40Tap to summarizeNancy 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.
Transcribe →