Los Angeles Annual Foreign Investment Forum

Even before earning her master's degree in architecture at Yale, I-Fei Chang had found the real estate industry alluring, with its ability to stimulate the economy and promote employment. The former Greenland CEO, who now works as a consultant, says the most rewarding part of her career is the opportunity to cooperate with other professionals around the world to invest in the development and reshaping of cities. Seeing projects she has initiated as she walks down the streets of Tokyo, Taipei, Hong Kong, Shanghai, St. Petersburg, Los Angeles and Brooklyn makes the hard work worthwhile. She makes a point to explore the cities where she travels for work. I-Fei tells us a welcome challenge is continually finding new opportunities for urban development and growth.

Mahsa Aliaskari has dedicated her legal career to guiding and advising clients through the labyrinth that is U.S. immigration law. As an immigrant who, at one time, also ran a business, Mahsa brings a truly unique perspective to each engagement. With each case, her focus is to understand the operations of each business. With this understanding, she is better equipped to work with clients in developing strategies that make sense to them; strategies that can be implemented with limited disruption to their world.

As Co-Managing Principal for the Southwest Region, Rob is responsible for Gensler offices in Los Angeles, San Diego, Newport Beach, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Denver; and he also serves on Gensler's Board of Directors and Management Committee. Known to peers and clients as an accomplished architect, practice leader and collaborator, Rob is committed to design innovation, technical quality and a belief that we are only as good as the people we mentor to succeed us. Rob's technical expertise spans more than 32 million square feet of built projects that have reshaped city landscapes worldwide. A strong proponent of community service, he has shepherded Gensler's gServe program, which encompasses the firm's community outreach activities and socially conscious design efforts. Rob is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a member of the Urban Land Institute, and he serves on the Boards of the Design Build Institute of America's Southern California Chapter and the Los Angeles Business Council. In 2012, the AIA California Council awarded Rob its Presidential Citation for changing the face of architecture in Los Angeles.

Mike Hu has over 14 years of real estate and management consulting experience and currently leads the Capital Markets team in the US. He is currently based in the LA office (Gaw USA headquarters) and is responsible for capital formation, co-investments, investor relations and marketing. He joined Gaw in 2011 and was previously a member of Gaw Capital Partners’ acquisitions and investment team based in Hong Kong (the global headquarters), and formerly worked for Tishman Speyer as part of their Leadership Development Program. While at Tishman Speyer, he completed rotations in their London and New York offices, working in acquisitions, debt financing/restructuring, property and asset management, and design & construction. Prior to business school, Mike was a strategy and operations consultant for five years focused primarily on the real estate and energy industries. He has significant experience working in Asia, Europe, and the US. Mike is conversationally fluent in Mandarin Chinese. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics/International Area Studies with college and Latin honors from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and a Master of Business Administration from London Business School.

Sandeep Pathak is a Managing Director based in the Los Angeles office. His responsibilities include generating equity, debt and investment sales opportunities, nationally. He has sourced and executed more than $12.0 billion of real estate debt and equity transactions in his career. Sandeep’s experience in real estate includes principal investing, portfolio and asset management, capital markets advisory, lending, and commercial real estate debt and equity securities. Prior to Ackman-Ziff, Sandeep worked for many years as a principal for the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and ING Clarion Partners where he focused on principal activities such as acquisitions, restructuring, JV equity, fund investing, separate account management, co-investments, capital-raising, asset and portfolio management and various strategic initiatives. Through these roles, he advised various institutional capital providers including foreign sovereigns, pension funds, and endowments. He has also advised and co-invested with various private equity funds, investment managers, real estate operating companies, REITs, and development firms. Prior to his principal activities, Sandeep worked in real estate debt and lending for Goldman Sachs and RBS Greenwich Capital, where he was actively involved in origination, execution, and securitization of real estate loans for both CMBS and balance sheet platforms. Prior to lending, Sandeep worked in a consulting and advisory capacity with Lend Lease / Rosen Consulting Group. Sandeep earned his Bachelor’s degree in both Economics and Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles and a Masters of Business Administration from Columbia University, with an emphasis in real estate and finance.

Justin X. Thompson is a partner in our Real Estate practice group based in our Los Angeles office. Justin advises on all aspects of real estate, including real estate finance, development, leasing, loan restructurings, land exchanges, sale-leasebacks, property management arrangements and joint ventures. He represents commercial and industrial developers, investors, lenders and property owners.